REYNOLDS HISTORICAL i aon o
Q£.NEALOG V COLLtKmON ! ^^ ^ • ^
Gc
M242m
1149600
(^
\/
3 1833 03109 8087
The publishers invite attention to the works
named below, as being of interest in connec-
tion with this
volume:
GENEALOGIES.
Family.
Date. Pages
Price.
Dimond....
1891 179
$3.00
Lindsay ...
i88g 300
5.00
Kingston
N. Y.— Rachel Dumont, a Brave |
Little Maid
of the Revolution; a
True Tale
of the Burn
ng of Kingston, by the British,
1777. By Mary Westbrook, 1889,
96 pages,
31 lUus., uncut, $1.50.
JOEL MUKSELL'S SONS, - - -
Publishers,
Albany, N, Y.
TALES OF OUR FOREFATHERS
AND
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF FAMILIES ALLIED
TO THOSE OF
McPIKE, GUEST AND DUMONT.
Compiled from Authentic Sources.
EDITED BY
Eugene F. McPike.
ALBANY, N. Y.:
joBL munsell's sons, publishers.
CONTENTS.
27
Tales of our Forefathers:
The Capture of Lieutenant-Colonel Sim-
coe, Commander of the Queen's Rangers;
An Incident of the American Revolution,
Henry Guest, American Patriot, New
Brunswick, N. J
Meeting Between Henry Laurens and
Captain Moses Guest, Charleston, South
Carolina .... . .
Dr. Edmund Halley . . . . 29
The McPike Family ; Genealogy . . 34
The Guest Family ; Genealogy . . 40
The Dumont Family; Genealogy . . 43
The Maternal Ancestry of Peter Dumont,
of Vevay, Indiana . . . . 72
Notes on the Frelinghuysen and Vroom
Families, of New Jersey ... 78
Biographical Annals of Families Allied :
Colonel John Dumont, by Hon. O. H.
Smith . • 81
Mrs. Julia L. Dumont, by Rev. Thomas
Eddy 82
Biographical Annals of Families Allied -
Continued.
Mrs. Julia L. Dumont, as a Teacher, by
Dr. Edward Eggleston
General Ebenezer Dumont
Captain Robert Anderson
Hon. W. T. Bland .
Hon. A. C. Ellis
Hon. Wade H. Ellis
Capt. Moses Guest .
Hon. John L. Ketcham
Hon. Robert N. Lamb
Hon. Henry Guest M'Pike
Judge John M'Pike .
Samuel Merrill, Esq. (Sr.)
Colonel Samuel Merrill, M. .
Judge Isaac Naylor
Rev. A. J. Reynolds
Rev. C. G. Reynolds
Rev. W. H. Reynolds
Appendices and Addenda :
Will of Dr. Edmund Halley
Dr. Halley's Coat Armorial
Notes on McPike Family
Notes on Guest Family
Notes on Dumont Family
Dumont Genealogy ; continued
Miscellaneous
Index
1149600
PREFACE.
This little volume was designed, primarily, for circula-
tion among those personally interested in its contents.
The critic who finds his search for faults abundantly
rewarded, is reminded that, as Dr. Benjamin Franklin
once remarked : " We do not dress for a private company
as for a public ball."
In preparing the " Tales " and " Biographical Annals,"
the editor has endeavored to find the best and most
reliable material available. Part of that which is herein-
after presented has previously been printed elsewhere, and
specific references to the original publications are given
in the proper places. For the incompleteness of the
several genealogies as regards later generations, the
editor's excuse must be that those from whom he had
hoped to obtain information either did not see their way-
clear to furnish it or were inaccessible — letters sent to
their last known addresses being returned or remaining
unanswered. The compiler of any genealogy will appre-
ciate the difficulties usually met with in this particular.
Considerable correspondence has been necessary, par-
ticularly in connection with the genealogical items, and
this affords an opportunity to make general acknowledg-
ment of indebtedness to the following, among others, who
8
have courteously rendered valuable assistance in this
direction: J. B. Dumont, Esq., Plainfield, N. J.; E. R.
Detraz, Esq., Vevay, Indiana; Rev. Andrew J. Reynolds,
Norwood, Cincinnati, Ohio, and his son. Rev. Walter H.
Reynolds, Chicago, 111.; Hon. Robert N. Lamb, Indian-
apolis, Ind.; Mrs. J. M. Moores, Indianapolis; Mrs. V. L.
Hay, Crawfordsville, Ind.; Mrs. E. S. L. Thompson,
Muncie, Ind.; Mrs. M. J. Morerod, Vevay, Ind.; Mrs. C.
W. Moores, San Francisco, California; Mrs. A. C. Ellis,
Covington, Kentucky; Mrs. Jennie Long, Bunker Hill,
Illinois; Rev. John Dumont Reid, Greenfield, Mass.;
Eugene A. Dumont, Esq., Chicago, 111., and C. W.
Deshler, Esq., Postmaster, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Without their kind cooperation this work could hardly
have been issued in its present form.
The editor will be pleased to receive additional geneal-
ogical data pertaining to the Halley, M'Pike, Guest and
Dumont families, with a view to subsequent publication.
The Editor.
Chicago, Illinois, June, 1898.
TALES OF OUR FOREFATHERS.
The Capture of Lieutenant-Colonel Simcoe, Com-
mander of the Queen's Rangers.
An Incident of the American Revolution.
It has been aptly said that during the reign of Charies
II, of England, " Science suddenly became the fashion of
the day." A future reviewer of our own times will have
ample reason to make the same remark in regard to history.
The enthusiasm incident to the creation of the Royal
Society had undoubtedly much to do with the remarkable
achievements of Newton, Flamsteed, Halley and their
contemporaries. So, too, in this day, public favor has
unquestionably conduced to the publication of the great
variety of historical material now at our command. Shall
we not hope that the analogy will eventually be carried a
step further, and that the impetus which has been given
will result in the continuance of the good work? History,
like science, is an inexhaustible mine. This seems espe-
cially true of the annals of America. The fact that the
majority of historical sketches recently published in this
country relates almost exclusively to the civil war does
not indicate that the material regarding the American
Revolution has either been exhausted or become uninter-
esting. Such is not the case, and, indeed, the rapid
[9]
growth of the several patriotic-hereditary societies of the
War of Independence furnishes strong evidence to the
contrary. In the words of another,* which, although
written nearly four score years ago, are still true as when
first penned: " History presents no struggle for liberty
which has in it more of the moral sublime than that of the
American Revolution. It has been, of late years, too
much forgotten in the sharp contentions of party; and he
who endeavors to withdraw the public mind from these
debasing conflicts, and to fix it on the grandeur of that
epoch, which, magnificent in itself, begins now to wear the
solemn livery of antiquity, as it is viewed through the
deepening twilight of almost half a century, certainly per-
forms a meritorious service, and can scarely need a justi-
fication." One of the most pleasing features of the situ-
ation is the demand for information from original sources;
reports by eye-witnesses and interviews with " survivors "
or their immediate descendants. This promises well for
the greater accuracy of future histories, if such be possible.
Among the authorities frequently cited by Irving, Lossing
and others is Simcoe's " Military Journal " which was
originally published by its author in London in 1787 for
private distribution among his friends. The work was
reprinted in New York in 1844, and to this edition was
added a memoir of the author. As the title-page informs
us, the book is " A History of the Operations of a Parti-
san Corps called the Queen's Rangers, Commanded bv
Lieut. -Col. T. G. Simcoe. During the War of the American
Revolution." The rapid movements and intrepid darine
♦Silliman's Tour from Hartford to Quebec, 1820.
of the Rangers caused them to be a source of constant
terror to the patriots and the capture of their leader,
October 26th, 1779, by Captain Moses Guest, of New
Brunswick, Middlesex county. New Jersey, was an event
of sufficient importance to be permanently recorded in the
annals of our country. The incident has, however, been
almost entirely overlooked by historians. The many sons
of New Jersey scattered throughout our land, not less in
the west than elsewhere, point with (we will hope) excus-
able pride to the important part taken by their ancestors
in that great contest from which sprung a nation soon
afterwards to become one of the greatest powers on earth.
Scarcely a place on the route of the British forces through
New Jersey can be found that was not the scene of some
hazardous exploit which has passed into history. Of the
patriotic citizens of the State, none were more loyal to
Freedom's cause than those of Middlesex county. A life-
long resident of the city of New Brunswick, in an exceed-
ingly interesting and valuable article published some
twenty-four years ago.* says that of one thousand per-
sons in New Jersey who were disaflfected. made to furnish
bonds and take the " oath of allegiance " to the Revolu-
tionary authorities, only twenty-six were inhabitants of
Middlesex county, and this in spite of the fact that the
British army was quartered there for a period of almost
seven months. Although Simcoe's Rangers were com-
*This refers to "A Glimpse of ' Seventv-six '" which will be found in
Harper's Maffazine for Jnlv. 1874. The author. Mr. Chas. D. Deshler.
who is now Postmaster of New Brunswick, was born within the first quarter
of this century, and was personally acquainted with many of the survivors
of the Revolution.
posed largely of Jersey " refugees," and he kept a book
containing " the names of every soldier in his corps, the
counties in which they were born and where they had
lived, so that he was seldom at a loss for guides," he was
obliged to say to Sir Henry Clinton when the latter was
about to march through the State of New Jersey, imme-
diately before the battle of Monmouth and was in need of
guides, that " he had none who knew any of the roads to
New Brunswick " showing conclusively that Middlesex
county was not represented in his corps. Simcoe, in his
" Journal " (which, by the way, is written in the third per-
son throughout) relates at some length the details of the
expedition which resulted in his capture. While copies
of his book are scarce, it can, doubtless, be found by the
investigating student in the public libraries of our larger
cities. The purposes of this sketch will be, perhaps, best
fulfilled by using other authorities. Lieutenant-Colonel
Henry Lee, " Lighthorse Harry," in his Memoirs of the
War, etc., second edition, pages 192-193, mentions Sim-
coe's incursion and says that " General Washington ex-
pecting a French fleet upon our coast in 1779-80. and
desirous of being thoroughly prepared for moving upon
New York in case the combined forces should warrant it,
had made ready a number of boats, which were placed at
Middlebrook, a small village up the Raritan river above
Brunswick. Sir Henrvr Clinton being informed of thig
preparation determined to destroy the boats. The enter-
prise was committed to Lt.-Col. Simcoe. He crossed
from New York to Elizabethtow'n Point with his cavalry,
and, setting out after night, he reached Middlebrook
13
undiscovered and unexpected. Having executed his
object he baffled all our efforts to intercept him on his
return by taking a circuitous route. Instead of turning
towards Perth Amboy, which was supposed to be the most
probable course, keeping the Raritan on his right, he
passed that river, taking the direction towards Monmouth
county, leaving Brunswick some miles to his left. Here
was stationed a body of militia, who, being apprised (it
being now day) of the enemy's proximity, made a daring
attempt to stop him but failed in the attempt. Simcoe,
bringing up the rear,* had his horse killed, by which acci-
dent he was made prisoner. * * * This enterprise
was considered, by both armies, among the handsomest
exploits of the war. Simcoe executed completely his
object, then deemed very important; * * * What is
very extraordinary, Lt.-Col. Simcoe, being obliged to feed
once in the course of the night, stopped at a depot of
forage collected for the Continental army, assumed the
character of Lee's cavalry, waked up the commissary about
midnight, drew the customary allowance of forage and
gave the usual vouchers, signing the name of the legion
quarter-master, without being discovered by the American
forage commissary or his assistants. The dress of both
corps was the same, green coatees and leather breeches;
yet the success of the strategem is astonishing."
An account of the affair which, although brief, is, from
an American standpoint at least, the most nearly com-
plete, but which, unfortunately, is the most inaccessible
by the general public, is given in Captain Moses Guest's
* Simcoe was in advance.
14
" Poems and Journal," two editions of which were pub-
hshed in Cincinnati in the years 1823 and 1824, respec-
tively. The '■ Journal " commences under date of March
lOth, 1784. On page 144 Capt. Guest relates that while
on his way returning from Canada (wither he had gone to
dispose of some hides) he reached Dumont's Ferry, De-
cember nth, 1796. This ferry was, a century ago, located
on the Hudson river about two miles and one-half below
Fort Miller. A toll-bridge has since been erected at that
point, and the Champlain canal also crosses the river in
that immediate vicinity. Mr. Dumont, the proprietor,
was, in all probabiUty, Peter Dumont the father of Lydia
Dumont, who was the wife of Captain Guest. That
the latter's version of the incident in question may lose
none of its value as historical evidence, it is here quoted
verbatim: " Mr. Dumont informed me that he had lately
seen a Gen. Whitney, who lives in New York, who stated
that he had lately visited Governor Simcoe in Upper
Canada, and that, in a conversation which he had with him
concerning his being taken prisoner in New Jersey, he
expressed a strong desire to see the ofihcer who com-
manded the party that captured him, as, he said, by his
instrumentality his life was preserved after he had sur-
rendered. I shall here explain this affair. On the 25th
day of October, 1779, Simcoe, who then commanded a
regiment of horse in the British service, crossed over from
Staten-Island, at the Blazing Star ferry, to the Jersey
shore in the night with 75 horsemen. His main object
was to take Governor Livingston prisoner, which he ex-
pected to do by surprise. Simcoe was not discovered to
IS
be an enemy until he had got seven miles north of N.
Brunswick, at Quibble town, from which place an express
was despatched to Col. John Neilson, at N. Brunswick, who
immediately ordered out his regiment. We were soon
marched to the bridge at Raritan landing. From Quib-
ble town Col. Simcoe proceeded rapidly to Col. Van Home's
house, at Middlebrook. He was much disappointed in
not finding the governor there.** He then went on to
Van Vechten's bridge, on the Raritan river, and set fire to
some forage and fiat-bottom boats; from which he went
to Millstone, a small town 8 miles NW. of Brunswick; here
he set fire to the courthouse and jail. While we were at
the landing bridge we discovered the smoke of those build-
ings. It was then thought probable that the enemy would
endeavor to pass this bridge in their retreat. Col. Neil-
son, therefore, continued there, being in hopes of cutting
off their retreat, and despatched me with thirty-five men,
with orders to endeavor to fall in with them, and to annoy
them as much as possible. Soon after getting on the road
leading from Millstone village to the bridge, I was informed
by an express, that the enemy was within a few hundred
yards of me; I had just time to get to an open piece of
woods when they made their appearance. We attacked
them as they came up; but they came on so rapidly, that
we could only give them one discharge. Col. Simcoe's
horse received three balls, fell on him, and bruised him very
**In his "Journal," Simcoe speaks of " Boundbrook," " from whence,"
he says, "he intended to carry ofF Col. Moyland, but he was not at Mr.
Van Horn's," (no reference being made to Governor Livingston). "The
Governor was then at New Brunswick," says Capt. Guest in a foot-note.
See Appendix No. 3, page 144.
i6
badly;* there was one man killed and several wounded.
I left a physician with Simcoe and proceeded on. We
soon found his party had halted on the heights west of
Brunswick. They sent a doctor and his servant to us,
bearing a flag. The doctor requested permission to at-
tend Col. Simcoe which was granted; but as the enemy
was proceeding on their retreat whilst the flag was nego-
tiating, which is contrary to the rules of war, the doctor
and his servant were considered as prisoners. After Sim-
coe fell. Major Stuart (a refugee who had piloted him)
took the command. Soon after we dismissed the doctor,
we witnessed a scene that was truly distressing. We
found Captain Peter Voorheis lying in the road, mortally
wounded, and, to all apearance, nearly breathing his last
breath. He had just returned from General Sullivan's
army, and, with a few militia horsemen, was pursuing so
close on the enemy's rear as to cause a detachment to sally
out. — They soon came up with him and cut him with thei*-
broad swords in a most shocking manner, which caused his
death in a few hours. We pursued them until we got to
South-river bridge, eight miles south of Brunswick, at
which place we received information that 500 men had
been landed at South Amboy to cover their retreat, and
that they were embarking for Staten Island."
" Many persons, I doubt not, think it strange that Col.
Simcoe could penetrate so far into so thick a settled
* Simcoe's horse was shot near De Mot's tavern, about two miles west of
New Brunswick, and "both horse and rider came to the ground." See
" Historical Collections of the State of New Jersey," compiled b)' John W.
Barber and Henry Howe, page 455, (New York, 1844).
country without receiving more injury than he did. It
was not occasioned by the inactivity of the Jersey miHtia,
who had greatly distinguished themselves for their zeal
and activity during the Revolutionary war in defending
the liberties of their country, but it was occasioned by
their getting a considerable distance in the country, envel-
oped in the shades of night ; by their having the address to
pass in many places for the American horse, and by the
rapidity with which they proceeded. Simcoe was, in the
Revolutionary War, to the northern, what Tarlton was to
the southern army; they were both zealous partizans and
capable of undertaking and executing any daring enter-
prise."
The above concludes Capt. Guest's account. It is fully
corroborated, in all essential particulars, by Simcoe's
" Journal." A few differences there are, especially as to
the manner of death of Capt. Voorhees, but even in this
Capt. Guest is supported by other authorities which space
will not permit fully referring to in this place. Further-
more, Simcoe's " Journal " was first published at a time
when he seeking advancement on the strength of his mili-
tary services, and he naturally endeavored to report the
actions of his " Rangers " in such a way as to reflect no
discredit upon that corps. Simcoe says that " the enemy
who fired were not five yards off; they consisted of thirty
men commanded by Mariner, a refugee from New York,
and wellknown for his enterprises with whaleboats." In
this Simcoe was laboring under a misapprehension. The
actual command of the party was vested in Capt. Moses
2
Guest.* It is quite probable, however, that this " Mar-
iner " was left in charge of Simcoe after the latter was cap-
tured, Capt. Guest going in pursuit of the retreating
Rangers as related in his account. In fact, Simcoe, in the
appendix to his book, says that " Marrener prevented a
boy from bayoneting him as he lay senseless on the
ground, saying ' let him alone the rascal is dead enough.' "
Marrener was subsequently captured while Simcoe was at
Charlestown and was, by the latter's request to Sir Henry
Clinton, allowed to return home on his parole.
The circumstances attending Simcoe's imprisonment
and subsequent release on December 27th, 1779, will be
found fully recited in the appendix to his " Journal," pages
264-286.
Simcoe was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Upper
Canada about 1791. Captain Guest removed from New
Brunswick to Cincinnati in 1817. It will not, perhaps, be
considered in bad taste to mention here that one of his
daughters, Lydia Jane, married John M'Pike (the writer's
paternal grandfather). The latter (himself a son of a
*See "Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey, in the
Revolutionary War," compiled by order of the Legislature by Wm. S.
Stryker, Adjutant General of the State of New Jersey (Trenton, 1S72).
This work shows that Moses Guest was an ensign in Captain Voorhees'
company. Third Middlesex Regiment, on Sept. 8, 1777, and afterwards was
a captain in the Second Middlesex Regiment.
See also the "History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties," New
Jersey, edited by James P. Snell, published by Everts & Peck, Philadel-
phia, 1881; pages 75, 76 and 77, which gives quite a full account of Simcoe's
raid, based partly on Simcoe's report and partly on writings of Hon. Ralph
Voorhees, a frequent writer of New Jersey Revolutionary history. Refer-
ence is made, specifically, to the fact that "An American party under com-
mind of Capt. C««^ had formed an ambuscade."
^9
patriot soldier of the revolution, Capt. James McPike, of
Baltimore, Maryland) was a member of the Committee for
the Public Reception of General Lafayette in Cincinnati
when that distinguished " hero of two continents " visited
America in 1824-25.
*********
There are those for whom history has no charms, but
they are fast becoming pleasingly few in number. Than
the records of the past we have no other measure of rela-
tive greatness nor of progress. That latest " fad," gene-
alogy, which has been so much encouraged recently by the
various patriotic-hereditary societies, is largely to be cred-
ited with having caused a revival of historical reading, and
for this service all the many charges against it, in the Court
of Public Opinion, should be endorsed on the docket,
" nolle prosequi."
Note. — The substance of the foregoing sketch was first printed in The
American Mait/i/v Majrazine (Washington, D. C). December, 18Q7.
Bibliography. —Simcoe's " Military Journal," (New York, 1844I; Lee's
Memoirs of the War, etc.. second edition, pages iQ2-igT; Guest's " Poems
and Journal," (Cincinnati, 1823-24); "Centennial History of Somerset
County," New Jersey, by Abraham Messier, D. D., pages 102-109, (Somer-
ville, 1878) ; "Annals of Staten Island," by J. J. Ch.te (New York, 1877),
pages 102-iog; "Historical Collections of the State of New Jersey," by
Barber & Howe (New York, 1844), page 455, and " History of Hunterdon
and Somerset Counties," New Jersey, bv Jas. P. Snell 'Philadelphia, 18S1).
It is probable that the history of Middlesex county, New Jersey, also con-
tains mention of the affair, though we have not perused this latter work.
"A Cyclopsedia of Canadian Biography" by Geo McLean Rose (Toronto,
1888), gives a brief sketch of the life of Simcoe; page 181.
Henry Guest, Amepican Patriot,
New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Among the American patriots residing in New Bruns-
wick, Middlesex county, New Jersey, during the war of
Independence was Henry Guest. Of his life compara-
tively little is known, but we learn that he was a tanner
from the following amusing incident found in an Amer-
ican magazine:*
" Henry Guest, of New Brunswick, was a tanner, and
was effectually curried by the enemy. In his inventory is
an item of '122 Slaughter Hides from Fort Lee,' which
just afterwards capitulated to the British. This item re-
vives the recollection of an incident of the Revolution
which I have heard related by my grandfather [the late
Jacob Dunham, M. D., of New Brunswick, N. J.]. The
British had erected a fort on the east bank of the Raritan
opposite New Brunswick, hard by the county bridge,
which overlooked and commanded the town. From this
fort they were expecting the approach of a body of Amer-
ican troops by way of the road from Trenton and Prince-
ton, and were vigilantly on the lookout. One night Mr.
Guest, whose tannery was on the extreme westerly bounds
*From Harpei's Magazine, copyright, 1874, by Harper & Brothers, by
whose kind permission the above reprint is presented. This was first
quoted by the Editor hereof in The American Historical Register (Boston),
April, 1897, page 168. The original article from which it was taken will
be found in Harpers' for July, 1874, page 238, under title "A Glimpse of
' Seventy-six;' " author, Charles D. Deshler, Esq., of New Brunswick, New
Jersey. The entire sketch is an exceedingly interesting tribute to the
unimpeachable loyalty of^Middlesex county.
of the town, at the intersection of what is now Livingston
avenue and New street, put out a large number of hides
to dry — possibly the identical ones above named — hang-
ing them on his fences. When the sun rose next morn-
ing the British mistook these hides for the long-expected
' rebels,' and opened a brisk cannonade across the river
upon them. But the fire made no impression on the foe.
who held their position with the greatest firmness and
good order. No British veterans were more unflinching
than they and the matter began to wear a serious aspect.
It was not until spy-glasses were brought to bear upon
them that it was discovered that they had been spending
the fire of their batteries for several hours upon a lot of
' recreant ' skins. When this was ascertained there was
a sudden cessation of hostilities, and the joke becoming
widely known, caused great merriment at the expense of
the ' red-coats ' among all good patriots in the town."
As the inventory of damages sustained by Henry Guest,
above referred to, may be deemed of general interest as
illustrative of the form of tliose documents which are con-
tained in a valuable relic known as the " Record of the
Damages done by the British and their Adherents to the
Inhabitants of Middlesex County," New Jersey, preserved
in the State Library at Trenton, New Jersey, the following
literal copy thereof is given.*
Inventory of Sundries taken, burned and distroyed by
the Enemy and their Adherents, between the ist Deer.
I , * Kindness of Charles D. Deshler, Esq., New Brunswick, New Jersey.
1776 and the 20th June 1777, the property of Henry Guest
of New Brunswick
from
Deer. 1776
to 20th
June 1777
£
5.
d.
To 8 tons of Engh hay ist qu ty
24
0
0
I Horse cost £12
12
0
0
122 Slaughter Hides had from Fort Lee
lOI
13
4
damage done my outbuildings worth £20
15
0
0
SCO feet of Bilsted Boards
I
15
0
Garden fence contain g 1750 foot board
at SI.
4
7
6
Posts, workmen & Rails
3
0
0
I small building
5
0
0
362 pannels of goods post and rail
fence, 4 rails high
I featherbed, 3 pots, i table, 12 chairs
and a number of small articles in
the household way not enumerated
12 pair of Shoes & i pr. of Boots
I Doz. Calf Skins
I Brass Blunderbush
3 Fire Locks
6
16
0
6
0
0
3
15
0
ID
ID
0
£235 16 10
Henry Guest being Sworn Saith that the above Inven-
tory is just and true. And that he was knowing to the
23
British Troops taking all the said Articles. And that he
has not received any Satisfaction for any one thing Con-
tained in this Inventory.
Henry Guest.
Sworn before me
Jos. Olden
We learn, also, that John Guest, probably a brother of
Henry, sustained similar damages aggregating the sum of
fii6, 5.?., as evidenced by his afBdavit deposited in the
same place.
Henry and John Guest were both members of the First
Presbyterian Church of New Brunswick, New Jersey, their
names appearing in the list of 1786.
The precise date of Henry Guest's decease does not ap-
pear from any items in our possession, but his son. Captain
Moses Guest, in his " Journal," second edition (Cincinnati,
1824), page 118, refers to his " aged father," under date of
November ist, 1785. He long survived this date, how-
ever, as is shown by an interesting letter from that sturdy
patriot, John Adams, the second President of the United
States. The original of this letter, clearly proving the
high esteem in which Henry Guest was held by even his
noblest contemporaries, is in the possession - of Rev.
Andrew J. Reynolds, of Norwood, a suburb of Cincinnati,
Ohio, to whose kindness we are indebted for the privilege
of presenting the following copy:*
* Originally contributed by the Editor to the "Spirit of Seventy-six"
(New York), January, 1898.
24
" QuiNCY, February 5, 181 1.
" Venerable Sir,
" Thanks for your favor of the 28th of January. Im-
prisoned by a tremenduous Snow Storm, which has now
raged for Six days and blockaded all the roads worse than
King George's Proclamations, and Seated before a com-
fortable Fire Side, it gives me pleasure to answer you.
" It is not at all improbable that I may get ' the start of
you to the world of souls.' There we shall have neither
Snow storms nor political Earthquakes, no Politicians, no
Conquerors, no Philosophists, as I hope and beheve.
" Don Onis's Motto for your Invention is excellent.
' Libertad o' La Muerte ' is admirable for a War Flail.
" Of the war in Spain, or at least of its Issue and termi-
nation I can form no competent Judgment. About an
hundred years ago, Louis 14th sett up the Duke of Anjon,
and the Roman Emperor, The Queen of England and the
States of Holland sett up the Arch Duke Charles of Aus-
tria, for King of Spain, and after ravaging and desolating
that Kingdom for many years, and consuming the Lives of
two or three hundred Thousand soldiers, Louis carried his
Point at last.
" Is Napoleon a greater ' Tyrant ' than Louis, or his
army more 'rascally ' than that of Germany, Holland or
England?
" Fifty years ago I saw a History of Mesnager, an Emis-
sary that Louis 14th sent over to England, under pretence
of sounding the Disposition of the British Ministry to
make Peace, of his Intrigues and Negotiations for that
purpose in pursuance of Instructions from Louis himself.
25
" Louis was desirous of i'cace: but if the war must be
continued, he wished it to be in Spain rather than in Ger-
many where Marlborough and Eugene commanded, and
where Enghsh, Dutch and German armies were more
numerous and more easily supported than in Spain.
" Mesneger says that after some secret conferences with
the secret agents of the Ministry, and finding that Terms
of Peace were not to be had upon Louis's conditions, he
had resort according to his Instructions to his Ulterior
Measures. He made Inquiry after the fine Writers, of
whom Great Britain had good Store, and excellent in their
kind, and withal very cheap. Of these he engaged a
Number upon terms which they thought generous, to
write for him. As the Passion of the English is for war,
he studied to gratify it, and at the same time to give it
such a direction as he and his Master wished.
" Immediately the Newspapers appeared full of Para-
graphs and Speculations recommending a vigorous prose-
cution of the War, especially in Spain. Bulky Pamphlets
issued from the press urging and elaborately proving the
Policy and Necessity of a vigorous prosecution of the war,
and especially in Spain. The Conversation of the same
men of Letters and all other Persons at the Coffee Houses,
was, now is the time to humble the House of Bourbon by
a vigorous Prosecution of the War and especially in Spain.
This was followed by addresses in the same strain, from
various other Cities and Corporations in all parts of the
Kingdom.
" In the due Course of Time, Paliament met, and was
opened by a Speech from the Throne in which the Queen
26
recommended to her faithful Lords and Commons, a vig-
orous Prosecution of the war, especially in Spain. The
speech was answered by the House of Lords and House of
Commons assuring her Majesty of the zealous support of
her faithful and loving subjects in a vigorous Prosecution
of the War, especially in Spain.
" The war was prosecuted till the Allies were exhausted
and compelled to Consent to the Spanish succession in the
Treaty of Utrecht.
" I fear Napoleon is pursuing Mesnager's Policy, and
that he will have Mesnager's success.
" I am Sir, your good Friend,
" John Ad.\ms.
" I have sent your Prayer to Mr. Murray.
" Henry Guest Esqr."
The house in which Henry Guest lived during the Revo-
lution, and in which his son Captain Moses Guest, and
other children were probably bom, is still standing in the
city of New "Brunswick, New Jersey, in a state of good
preservation and is one of the oldest houses in the town.
The foundation is of stone, while the superstructure is
brick, painted to resemble the stone in color.* A frame
addition on the rear is a modern improvement. Accord-
ing to family tradition, which is not altogether clear, this
•The Editor possesses a photograph of the old "Guest mansion," taken
some fifteen years ago, which was presented to him by Charles D. Dcshler.
Esq., of New Brunswick, in 1897. The Editor's father is the fortunate
owner of a family heirloom, an old "Revolutionary looking-glass," (as it is
called) which was in the " Guest mansion " and which was, undoubtedly,
used by Lafayette and other notables. It is verj' highly prized.
27
house was captured by the British with the intention of
using it as their headquarters, but Captain Moses Guest,
it is said, led a charge and rescued it. His father, Henry
Guest, " who was then very old, unable to walk, wheeled
in his chair, avenged the death of Captain Voorhees,* and
saved the life, out of mercy, of Colonel Simcoe of the retir-
ing English army."
Meeting- Between Henry Laurens and Captain Moses
Guest, at Charleston, S. C.
The success of the Airierican Revolution is, of course,
largely to be ascribed to the relatively great number of
American patriots of commanding personality then living.
Such men as Washington, John Adams, Hamilton and
Franklin, for example, each widely different from the
others in his particular talents and power, together made
a force which could hardly prove other than irresistible.
A still closer analysis reveals an almost numberless assem-
blage of men possessing the soundest sense and broadest
intelligence. Some, however, were remarkable, not only
for their wisdom and executive ability, but also for the
faculty of attracting others by their own affectionate tem-
perament. Occupying a peculiarly unique position in the
history of that period is Henry I.aurens. Many of his
admirable traits of character are explained by the fact that
he had good, sturdy, faithful, yet vivacious, French-Hu-
* Captain Peter Voorhees' death occurred October 26, 1779, as was
shown in the preceding sketch. Some of the minor details of the tradi-
tionary account above quoted are difficult of confirmation.
28
guenot blood in his veins. We are told* that he was born
at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1724, of Calvinistic
parents, who had quitted France after the revocation of
the Edict of Nantez, and first settled at New York, but
who subsequently removed to the capital of Carolina. To
follow the career of Henry Laurens in detail, though a
pleasant task, would not be wholly to our purpose. His
mission to Holland, to negotiate a loan for the United
States, his capture on the high seas by the British, the
consequent war between Great Britain and the United
Netherlands, together with his confinement in the Tower
of London, and unswerAang loyalty to the cause of his
country, are facts known to all readers of American his-
tory. He finally retired to private life, which he seemed
to most wish for, and died in Charleston, December 8,
1792. A few years before his death he was visited by Cap-
tain Moses Guest, who has left usf the following brief
but touching account of their meeting:
" I continued to follow the sea vmtil the 20th of Feb-
ruary, I788,§ but as no occurrences which were deemed
sufificiently interesting to justify their publication took
place during the prosecution of several voyages not
noticed in my journal, and as I have given a particular
description of all the places to which I sailed, I shall con-
* Excellent biographical sketches, of both Henry Laurens and his son,
Colonel John Laurens, respective!)', are contained in " History of the
French Protestant Refugees," by Charles Weiss; translated by Frederick
Hardman (Edinburgh and London, 1854), pages 318-328.
f Captain Moses Guest's "Poems and Journal," second edition (Cin-
cinnati, 1824), page 119.
§ " I then sold my vessel at Charleston."
29
elude this part of my journal by observing that when I
made my first voyage to Charleston in South Carolina, I
had letters of introduction from Judge Patterson, of New
Brunswick, to the Hon. Henry Laurens and Doctor David
Ramsey. The Doctor treated me with much civility, but
from Mr. Laurens I experienced an affectionate attach-
ment such as I had never before met with from any person
in all my travels. He often advised me to sell my vessel
and settle in Charleston. The day previous to my sailing
for N. Brunswick I dined with him, and, on my rising to
take leave, he grasped my hand and expressed himself thus:
' As you are nov^r about to return to Jersey, and expect to
quit the sea, it is not likely we shall ever meet again in
this world; but I hope and trust we shall meet in a better.
I will not say I have a regard for you; it is too cold an
expression; I must say I love you.' He then bade me an
affectionate farewell."
Dr. Edmund Halley.
The discoverers of that which has had the effect of caus-
ing our geographical text-books and maps to be amplified
and corrected, are given great praise, and rightly so, but
the " explorers of the heavens " must also be accorded
their due credit for having rendered, in many instances,
those very discoveries possible. Without the assistance
which Astronomy has given Navigation men would not go
down to the sea with as free hearts as they do. Fame,
astronomically, is no more easily obtained than in other
departments of knowledge. Patience, endurance and
30
sound judgment are qualities as necessary in the one as in
the others. The searcher of the skies traverses the
ethereal depths with no compass but analogy. His goal,
oft times, is the invisible.
Among the most brilliant names which the science oi
the stars has given to the world is that of Edmund Halley,
who is, perhaps, best, or most popularly, known as the dis-
coverer of " Halley's comet," or rather the first to predict
its return (which event, by the way, will, it is expected,
again occur about 191 1), although that was but one of his
many and varied achievements. Probably the most nearly
accessible extant life of Halley is the brief sketch in the
Encyclopedia Britannica ; further mention of him, however,
being made in the same work in the articles Newton and
Astronomy respectively. The sketch by " A. M. C." in the
twenty-fourth volume of Stephens' Dictionary of National
Biography (New York, 1890), is much fuller, and at the
conclusion thereof is given an invaluable bibliography of
the subject.* No biography of Edmund Halley has ever
been published, although the prominent part taken by him
in the affairs of the Royal Society and the priceless service
he rendered in the first publication of Sir Isaac Newton's
Principia, as well as his own important discoveries, com-
bine to make his life one of great interest. t He was born
* The careful reader, however, will do well to peruse also, what Sir
David Brewster has to say about the character of Dr. Halley, in the former's
Life of Sir Isaac Newton (1855), Vol. II, pages 164-165, including foot-notes.
f It is, indeed surprising that no biography of Dr. Halley has been
published. The material is not inaccessible. It would seem that in view
of the expected return of " Halley's comet," and the great public interest
which will be thereby aroused, such a work could be printed at a profit to all
concerned.
31
at Haggerston, in the parish of St. Leonard, Shoreditch,
London, England, October 29th, 1656 (O. S.), in the third
year of the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. Of his
ancestry no information appears to remain further than the
statement that his father (who was also named Edmund
Halley and was a member of a worthy Derbyshire family)
was a wealthy citizen and owned and operated a soap man-
ufactory in Winchester street, London. Halley's remark-
able scientific career cannot, in this place, be detailed or
reviewed. The investigating student has at his command
ample means of information on this subject. Lord Mac-
auley, in his " History of England." says that " Edmund
Halley investigated the properties of the atmosphere, the
ebb and flow of the sea, the laws of magnetism and the
course of the comets; nor did he shrink from toil, peril and
exile in the cause of science. While he, on the rock of St.
Helena, mapped the constellations of the southern hemis-
phere, our National Observatory was rising at Green-
wich." He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in
the latter part of the year 1678. In 1682 he married Mary
Tooke, a daughter of the Auditor of the Exchequer, " witli
whom he lived harmoniously for fifty-five years." After
his marriage he took up his residence at Islington. It was
about two years later (August, 1684) when he made the
well-known visit to Sir Isaac Newton at Cambridge, re-
sulting, ultimately, in the publication of the Principia, that
wonderful work which caused a revolution in the most
essential branches of natural philosophy. By a combina-
tion of circumstances, Dr. Halley assumed not only the
labor but the actual expense of publishing this great work.
32
although at much pecuniary hazard to himself, and for this
he is assuredly entitled to the lasting gratitude of pos-
terity. To the Principia Halley prefixed a set of Latin
hexameters, composed by himself and addressed to the
author, the concluding line being:
Nee fas est propius mortali attingere Divos.
So near the gods — man cannot nearer go.
Dr. Halley departed this life January 14th, 1742, fully
possessed of all his faculties, in the eighty-sixth year of his
age. English people, or those of English descent, who
themselves, or whose ancestors did, bear the surname
" Halley," may, with justifiable pride, point to this " inde-
fatigable astronomer," if not as an actual progenitor, at
least as an early and highly honored representative of the
family.* Sir David Brewster says of him that he " was
one of the most distinguished and accomplished philoso-
phers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries," and
adds** the following quotation from the Eloge of Halley
by M. Mairan: " While we thought the elogium of an
Note. — Upon the death of the first Astronomer-Ro5'al, John Flamsteed,
about I7tg. Dr. Halley succeeded him in that office.
* Dr. Halley's fame, even in his own day, w.is world-wide. In a sketch
of Dr. Halley, contributed by his son-in-law, Mr. Henry Price, to the Bio-
graphia Britantiiea (London, 1757), Vol. IV, p. 2494, it is stated that when
Peter the Great, Emperor of Russia, visited England, he called for Dr.
Halley and was so pleased with his general character and wide knowledge
that he admitted him familiarily to his table.
** Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton;
by Sir David Brewster (Edinburgh and London, 1855), Vol, II, pages 196-
ig7, foot-note. This work also contains unabridged copies of all letters
between Newton and Halley regarding the first publication of the Principia,
but'the same are more compactly presented in the second edition (i860).
33
astronomer, a naturalist, a scholar and a philosopher com-
prehended our whole subject, we have been insensibly
surprised with the history of an excellent mariner, an
illustrious traveler, an able engineer and almost a states-
man."* The writer has been unable to locate any
genealogical information relating to the immediate de-
scendants of Dr. Halley.t but his granddaughter, a Miss
Halley,§ married a " M'Pike " or " McPike " of Scotland.
They had:
2 i James^, who came to America in 1772.
ii A daughter, who m. a " McDonald " of Ireland.
*Mem. Acad. Par. 1742. What is said to be a translation thereof will
be found in Gent. Mag., Vol. XVII, pages 455-503 (London, 1747). The
latter contains (page 507) this item: "He had ifl'ue, one fon and two
daughters; the fon died long before him, the daughters are yet living, one
unmarried, the other married to her fecond hufband, and both much
ef teemed."
f " He had several children, both sons and daughters, some of whom died
in infancy. In the history of astronomical discovery, the name of Halley
will stand not far from that of Newton, with which it is so closely associ-
ated." {Imperial Diet, of Univ. Biog., published by William Mackenzie,
London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, date unknown, prob. 1860-1870, Vol. II,
p. 788.) In the same work, opposite page 7S7, will be found an excellent
portrait of Dr. Halley, " Engraved by W. T. Fry from an original Picture
ascribed to Dahl in the possession of the Royal Society."
I See New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. XXIX, page
16 (January, i8g8). Family tradition clearly refers to the mother of
Captain James M'Pike, as a " Miss Haley or Haly, granddaughter of Sir
Edmund Haley, English Astronomer," which, although Dr. Halley was
never knighted, certainly means him.
Note. — In a rare work entitled "A New and General Biog. Diet."
(London, 17S4), Vol. VI, p. 423, will be found the following statement
regarding the burial-place of Dr. Halley: "His corpfe was interred near
Greenwich, in the church 3'ard of a fmall village called Lee, where was
erected over him a handfome tomb." Many of the rarer works relating to
this general subject are contained in the Newberry Library, Chicago.
The greater portion of the preceding sketch of Dr. Edmund Halley was
printed in the N. Y. Gen. i5r= Biog. Recoid, Vol. XXIX, January, 1S98.
3
34
The M'Pike Family; Genealogy.
According to family tradition, the Pike clan (or possibly
the McPikes or sons of Pike) participated in Scotland's
famous fight for independence, the battle of Bannockburn.
It is also said that the McPikes " were related by blood to
' the Bruces,' " and, therefore, to Robert the Bruce him-
self (the relationship being traced, possibly, through 5
daughter of the latter, though this is not clear).
2 JAMES McPike (or M'Pike)* came from Scotland
to Baltimore, Maryland, in 1772. He "served seven
years with Washington under Colonel Howard and
General Little of Baltimore; also under command
of General LaFayette." As the official records of
Maryland, during the Revolution, have never been
printed, the writer is unable to cite any other
authority than family tradition for the military service
just mentioned. Capt. McPike probably removed from
Maryland to Virginia. He came west to Maysville, Ken-
tucky (or immediate vicinity), about 1795. The records
of Maysville do not show his name, probably because of the
non-existence of any " Land Ofifice " at that time. He
married Martha Mountain. t
*The name is not spelled alike by all members of the family. The
writer's father invariably uses the apostrophe, as did also his father, John
M'Pike, before him. This may have been a family custom in Scotland.
The writer cannot say, nor has he ever seen an autograph of Capt. James (2)
McPike. A perusal of an old book relating to Baltimore during the Revo-
lution reveals the fact, however, that the names of persons bearing sur-
names beginning with " Mc" were frequently spelled with an apostrophe,
and Capt. James (2) McPike may have adopted the custom, in America.
fUnpub. MS., dated Jan'y ist, 1888, shows: "J. Mountain from New
Jersey — English, about 1554. Children were Joseph, John, Richard,
1149600
35
They had:
i Joseph^, married Sarah Lindsay; twelve children;
eleven died infants; Charlotte surviving; mar-
ried Dr. Frame, Rushville, Indiana.
ii Richard^, was in War of 1812 under Maj. Jenkin-
son, Cincinnati (Ohio) Light Artillery; mar-
ried Miss M. L. Larue; thirteen children: i,
Alexander; ii, James, married Ann Wolford,
three or more children; iii, John; iv, George;
V, Louise, married, ist, Leo Adams, one child,
died, married, 2nd, late John Wilkinson, Perry
county, Missouri; vi, Adeline, m. Anthony
Thomason, four children, on Colorado river,
Texas, Richard. Louise, John and Amanda;
vii, Amanda; viii, Cealia; ix, Caroline; x, Maria,
married " Coleman," of Virginia, family in
in Texas or Arkansas; xi, Zebulon, an infant,
iii Elizabeth^, married Jonathan Smith and had one
child, Jennette, who married Christopher
Blackburn, of Charlotte county, Virginia; they
had one child, surviving: Catharine, " Kate,"
who married, ist, Blair Patterson Hereford, a
lawyer, who died six years later, leaving three
daughters, Eudora, Anna and Katie; Mrs.
Hereford then married Hon. A. C. Ellis, and
had several children, one of whom is Hon.
Wade H. Ellis, Assistant Corporation Counsel
Martha, also half-brother, George Grinup. Joseph Mountain married Miss
E. Drake; one child, Joanna. Martha Mountain married Capt. James
M'Pike."
36
of the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, March, 1898;
Mrs. A. C. Ellis now resides at No. 21 Martin
street, Covington, Kentucky,
iv Nancy^, married Richard Lindsey; they had:
i, Thomas, married a " Lindsey " in Hancock
county, Ind.; ii, Harriet; iii, Francis; iv, John;
V, James; vi, Mark; vii, William; viii, Orelia;
ix. Babe.
V Sarah', married James Morehouse; four children:
i, Elizabeth, married, unknown; ii, Martha,
married, unknown; iii, Elija; iv, an infant.
vi John', born about 1793-4, married Lydia Jane
Guest. (See page 41.)
vii Haley', married a Miss Shaw, think of Missouri,
where he lived; was in war of 181 2 under Gov.
Shelby, Ky. MiHtia; two children: John, died
in Alton, 111.; George, who married " is in
Arkansas " (?).
viii George', died single in Indiana,
ix Martha', married James Dicken; children, say
four.
X James', died an infant.
Note. — The names of children of Capt. James (2) McPike are here
given in order as shown in unpub. MS. compiled from memoranda emana-
ting from the writer's grandfather, John M'Pike. This is also the authority
for other statements above given as to later descendants.
As originally printed in the N. V. Gen. dr' Biog. Record. Vol. XXIX,
January, 189S, this was accompanied by some explanatory foot-notes which
it has been deemed unnecessary to repeat in this place.
37
Addenda.
Part of the foregoing is confirmed by " The Lindsays
of America," by Margaret Isabella Lindsay (Albany, N.
Y., 1889), which, on page 259, gives an account of Thomas
Lindsey and Rebecca Hanie, his wife, who together came
to America in 1789. Among other children they had:
iv Salhe, the second daughter, married Joseph Mc-
Pike, and left issue: Charlotte McPike, who
married, first. Doctor Fronnie, then Mr. Cald-
well, and she left issue, two children,
vii Richard, of Greenville, Indiana, married Nancy
McPike (sister of Joseph McPike), and left
issue: Thomas, Harriet, Frances, Richard,
Nannie, WiUiam, Joseph, John, Amelia, and
Eliza Lindsey.
The compiler mentions (page 261) indebtedness to Mr.
Henry K. Lindsey, then general agent of the " Lancashire
Insurance Company," Cincinnati, Ohio, who resided
" across the river at Covington, Kentucky," and his
daughter Aurelia, " who lives in Ashville, North Carolina,
for this history of the (Lindsey) family, the latter having
taken much interest in, and pains to collect as true a
genealogy of it as possible."
Peter William Alexander McPike, a son of Richard
McPike, and, therefore, a grandson of Captain James Mc-
Pike, was popularly known as Aleck; he married, first, a
Miss White, of Virginia, about 1855-60; she died eleven
months later, leaving Eugene White, a son, who only sur-
38
vived a few weeks; married, second, Mrs. Caroline K.
Dryden, May lo, 1864; his wife died three years later, and
his own decease occurred in 1879, leaving issue:
i Caroline Virginia (" Jennie "), born May 28,
1865; married John H. Long, Nov. 7, 1888,
and had: i, John H., Jr.; ii, Alexander B.
ii Caddie May, born May 11, 1867; married Louis
John Bartel, March 14, 1884, and had: i, Louis
John, Jr.
Other members of this same McPike family, that is
descendants of Captain James McPike, reside in Perryville,
Perry county, Missouri. It is also said that some of an-
other branch live in Louisiana, Missouri, and that among
those belonging to the latter is Henry C. McPike, Esq.,
attorney-at-law, San Francisco, California. As to this
the writer cannot positively say, but it is certain that there
were several American progenitors bearing that surname
other than Captain James McPike, as we find in Chicago
a Mr. Curtis McPike, whose family traditions clearly point
to a different ancestry than that of the others hereinbefore
mentioned.
John M'Pike, son of Captain James McPike, married
Lydia Jane Guest, daughter of Captain Moses Guest, and
they had:*
i Edmund Haley; was in the Mexican war; now
Hving in Calistoga, California.
Note. — Mrs. J. H. Long and her sister, Mrs. L. J. Bartel, now reside
in Bunker HiH, Illinois.
*The writer hereof does not positively know that the children of John
M'Pike have been here named in correct order of age.
39
ii Henry Guest (of whom a sketch is given on an-
other page),
iii George D, died when about 19.
iv WilHam C.; now of the firm of Messrs. McPike
& Fox, wholesale druggists, Atchison, Kan-
sas,
v-vi Two infants, died.
James Henry M'Pike, son of Henry G., and grandson
of John, born January 9, 1855; married Martha Jane
Wilkinson, Thanksgiving day, 1877; he died in September,
1880, leaving issue:
i Birdie, born Nov. 30, 1878.
ii Gertrude, born Sept. 29, 1880 (both now residing
at Seventy-six P. O., Perry county, Missouri).
Jane M'Pike, '' Jennie," daughter of Henry G., and
granddaughter of John, born in Alton, 111., Nov. 21, 1856;
married William Robert Wilkinson, brother of Martha
Jane, Oct. 19, 1877; now living in St. Louis, Mo., and has
one son:
i John Henry, born March 7, 1879.
John Haley McPike, son of Henry G., and grandson of
John, born Oct. 11, 1861; married Josephine Maier, Nov.
5, 1884; issue:
i Henry Guest, Jr., born June 21, 1885.
ii Josephine Mabel, born Aug. 18, 1888.
iii Frederick Earl, born July 25, 1891.
Eugene F. McPike, son of Henry G., and grandson of
John, born in Alton, Illinois, July 18, 1870; married Ada
40
Florence Denton, September 2, 1895; now residing in
Chicago, 111., and has one child:
i Elizabeth, born June 11, 1897.
Moreland M'Pike, daughter of Henry G.
The Guest Family; Genealogy.
" The Guests were from Birmingham, England." So
runs the family tradition. The first definite record in
America, of the branch to which this sketch relates is of
Henry (or " Harry ") Guest, who lived in New Brunswick,
New Jersey. We have, in a previous sketch, given some
particulars regarding his life and character. He is said to
have married a Miss Foreman; they had:
i Henry, who married a Miss Webster, and had
one daughter,
ii William, married, but name of wife unknown;
they had one daughter who married a " Mc-
Norton," or " M'Norton," and had child,
Henry Guest M'Norton;* last heard from near
West Point, N. Y.
iii Moses, married Lydia Dumont.
iv A daughter, name unknown.
* This surname may be " McNaughton " as the Rev. W. H. Reynolds, of
Chicago (a great-grandson of Capt. Moses Guest), possesses a letter from
Mrs. Jane (Guest) McNaughton, of Albany, N. Y. (1835).
Note. — Several members of the Guest family, who were probably dis-
tantl)' related to those above mentioned, achieved considerable prominence
in the history of America. See AppUton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography
(New York, 18S7), article, "John Guest," who was closely associated with
public affairs in Philadelphia, under William Penn. See, also, The Ameri-
can Historical Register (Boston), April, 1S97, page 167.
The "Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey, in the
Revolutionary War," compiled bj' order of the Legislature by Wm. S.
Stryker, Adjutant General of the State of New Jersey, and published at
Trenton, in 1872, shows that Moses Guest was an Ensign in Captain Voor-
Moses Guest (of whom more will be said in the Bio-
graphical Annals to follow) was born in New Brunswick,
New Jersey, Nov. 7, 1755; died in Cincinnati, Ohio, March
22, 1828; his marriage to Lydia Dumont, daughter of
Peter Dumont, took place June 28, 1792, the ceremony
being performed by the Rev. Walter Monteath; they had:
i Henry Cornelius*, born Jan. 10, 1795; died Nov.
5, 1828, in New York city; a bachelor.
5 ii Mary Ann^, born Feb. i, 1797; died Aug. 4, 1855.
iii Peter Dumont^, born March 21, 1799; died May
19, 1801.
iv Wilham*, born Sept. 7, 1801 ; died March 7, 1803.
V Lydia Jane*, born June 13, 1803; married John
M'Pike. (See page 36.)
vi Elizabeth*, born June 20, 1805; died Feb. 7, 1806.
iii Elizabeth (2nd)*, born Nov. 11, 1806; married
March 9, 1826; no issue; died July 7, 1826.
viii William Dumont*, born Sept. 26, 1808; died
Oct. 22, 1809.
ix Sarah Amelia*, born Sept. 11, 1810; married to
a " White; " they had one son Richard, last
heard from, St. Joseph, Mo.
X John Livingston*, born April 9, 1813; died Feb.
26, 1814.
xi Sophia Hay*, born Dec. 24, 1814; died July 5,
1888; unmarried.*
hees' company, Third Middlesex Regiment, on Sept. 8, 1777, and after-
wards was a captain in the Second Middlesex Regiment, while William
Guest (probably Moses' brother) was successively a lieutenant, and a captain
in the Middlesex Militia, during the Revolutionary War.
*Miss Sophia Hay Guest was a noble women, possessing a high char-
acter and marked intelligence. Her grand-nephew, Rev. W. H. Reynolds,
42
5 Mary Ann' Guest (Moses^, Henry^) was married by
Rev. Mr. Burke to Mr. Sacket Reynolds, in Cincinnati,
Oct. 21, 1819; she died in the same city Aug. 4, 1855;
they had:
i Mary Bathurst*, born April 12, 1821; died, 1839,
unmarried.
ii Unnamed infant daughter born June 9, 1823;
lived but one day.
iii Julia*, born June 22, 1824; unmarried; still living
at Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
iv Unnamed infant daughter born April 15, 1828.
V Caroline*, born May 19, 1827; married Alex.
Hays Lemmon; still living,
vi Amanda*, born April 4, 1829; died Aug., 1838.
vii Andrew Jackson*, born July 14, 183 1, in Cin-
cinnati; married Charity Peterson Hunter,
Dec. 16, 1857. (Mr. Reynolds possesses large
portraits of his grandparents, Capt. Moses
Guest and Lydia Dumont-Guest, which the
writer's father has seen, and pronounces the
latter's portrait as resembling very closely
the writer's grandmother, Lydia Jane' Guest-
McPike.*
of Chicago, possesses a little book containing some of her memoranda and
writings. She was one whom all the family " loved with the tenderest
affection."
*The children of Capt. Moses Guest, and of Mary Ann Guest-Reynolds,
are shown above in order given in memorandum sent the writer by Rev. A.
J. Reynolds^, of Cincinnati, who possesses the old Guest family Bible.
Mr. Reynolds also st.ites that " Moses Guest and his wife, Lydia Dumont
Guest, were buried in what was then the cemetery, now Washington park,
Cincinnati. Their graves are near the northwest corner of Race and I2th
43
Rev. Andrew Jackson* Reynolds* had issue:
i Clarence Guest', born April i8, 1859.
ii Mary Elizabeth", born Oct. 2, 1861; married
Rev. Prof. John C. Sharpe, Dec. 24, 1885.!
iii Walter Hunter', born Nov. 7, 1864.
iv Grace Anna', born June 25, 1868.
v Caroline Cornelia', born Sept. 10, 1871; died
Oct. 5, 1872.
vi Andrew Joseph', born Aug. 25, 1874; died March
16, 1875.
The Dumont Family; Genealogy.§
The Dumont family is of French-Huguenot descent. A
narrative of experiences such as fell to the lot of many
Protestant families in France is said to be contained in
streets, Cincinnati," where they still lie in perpetual rest. Lydia Dumont
was born at South Branch of Raritan, Aug. 30, 1773; died in Cincinnati,
Oct. 29, 1822.
* See Biographical Annals, page 136.
fThe Rev. Prof. John C. Sharpe, is Professor of Mathematics in Shady
Side Academy, Pittsburg, Pa. He is a Presbyterian minister, as are also;
his father-in-law. Rev. Andrew J. Reynolds, and the tatter's two sons
living. See page 138.
Note. — Henry Cornelius Guest, only surviving son of Captain Moses
Guest, was a merchant in New York city, and bought heavily of certain
English firms. Among the papers preserved by his nephew, the Rev.
A. J. Reynolds, of Cincinnati, are several letters which indicate the high
esteem in which he was held. The writer hereof has been told that when
Henry C. Guest died, one of the English concerns with which he had had
large dealings remitted quite a sum of money to some of the family as a
mark of respect for the deceased.
? The beginning of the "The Dumont Family" genealogy was printed
in the M. Y. Gen. 6- Biog. Record, Vol. XXIX, April, 189S. See, also,
appendix.
44
" The Story of Marie Dumont," a novel, by Lady Pollock,
which the editor hereof has not had the pleasure of perus-
ing. The book was not only printed in England, but also
in New York city (1882). Careful search, however, has
failed to locate a copy thereof.
In a " History of Kingston, New York," by Marius
Schoonmaker (New York, 1888), page 479, mention is
made of certain traditions relating to the origin of the
American branch of the family. The name of one " Du-
mond — Walran De La Trimble " is given. He is said
to have been a Huguenot living in Paris, who adopted as
his son, his nephew, Walran Dumont. They fled to Hol-
land, where the uncle remained, the adopted son coming
to America and settling in Kingston. The account re-
ferred to, however, gives the year 1685 as the date of the
" adopted son's " emigration to America. This is mani-
festly erroneous, as will be shown.
Among those who have been interested in the gen-
ealogy of this family is J. B. Dumont, Esq., of Plainfield,
New Jersey, who has most generously transmitted to the
editor the results of his long and exhaustive researches
in France, Holland and America. While he has made per-
sonal examination of the records in Kingston, New York,
among published authorities may be cited the Kingston
Church Records compiled by the Rev. R. R. Hoes. The
editor's researches, therefore, have been confined chiefly
to the immediate ancestry and descendants of Peter* Du-
mont, or, as sometimes designated, Peter H. Dumont
(Hendrick^, Peter^, Wallerand^).
Wallerand* Dumont, the first permanent settler bear-
45
ing that surname, in the colonies, of which any record has
been found, was the ancestor of those residing in Ulster
county. New York, and Somerset county, New Jersey,
before 1700. He emigrated from Amsterdam, Holland,
to New Amsterdam, in the year 1657. He was unmarried
when he emigrated, and in the record made at the time of
his marriage, he gave his birthplace as Coomen, Flanders
(now Commines, Department Nord, France, eight miles
north of Lille). He was a cadet (" adelborst "), said to be
similar to our second lieutenant, in a company of soldiers
sent by the Dutch West India Company to Director Gen-
eral Stuyvesant. Other French Protestants of same name
came from Caen, Normandie; some of whom went to
England and others to Perie. Cape of Good Hope, Africa,
and descendants of the name are now living in both places.
It is difficult now, if not impossible, to obtain reliable in-
formation of family records, in consequence of the gen-
eral destruction, by order of the then existing govern-
ment, of French Protestant churches and of many of the
houses and private papers of Protestant families. A tra-
dition that some of Wallerand^ Dumont's family re-
nounced the Protestant faith to retain their property has
been handed down to descendants in America, but it has
never been verified.* The name has been found in many
* Historical accuracy requires this addition : Dr. Messier, author of the
history of Somerset county. N. J., stated to the father of Mr. J. B.-i Dumont
that from his (Dr. Messler's) investigations made personally in France, the
above statement is true. Dr. Messier baptized Mr. J. B.' Dumont and was
still minister of First Dutch Church when he left Somerset county, but
Mr. Dumont did not then realize the importance of obtaining more detailed
information.
46 .•
parts of France. All efforts to trace his family beyond
Coomen, Flanders, have been unsuccessful.
Wallerand^ Dumont came over either in the shi])
" Draetvat," Captain Beslevoer, which sailed from Am-
sterdam April 2, 1657, or the ship " Jan Baptist," which
sailed from same port December 23, 1657. The latter
belonged to Dutch West India Company and brought
over a company of soldiers for Governor Stuyvesant.
Two sisters of Wallerand* Dumont came over about 1663
in ship "Spotted Cow;" one Margaret\ with her hus-
band Pierre Nouee, and ElizabethV a single woman, who
afterwards married Meynard Journeay, and settled on
Staten Island. Pierre Nouee and wife settled at Wood-
bridge, N. J. (opposite Staten Island), and the "Noe's "
are probably their descendants. Wallerand^ Dumont set-
tled at Esopus (now Kingston), N. Y., about 1660. He
married, January 13, 1664, Grietje (Margaret) Hendricks,
widow of Jan Aertson (who was killed in second Esopus
war, by Indians). She had one daughter (by first hus-
band), who aftenvards married Hendrick Kip.
Wallerand^ Dumont appears to have been one of the
influential and reliable inhabitants in Kingston; was a
member of the military council in second Esopus war;
served as schepen, or magistrate, of Kingston from May,
1669, to May, 1671. (The magistrate's record-book of this
period is still in existence, and from it Mr. J. B.'' Dumont
has obtained a copy of the signature of Wallerand^ Du-
mont.*) He was a deacon in Dutch church in 1673, and
*A fac-simile of this signature was printed in the N. Y. Gen. Biog.
Record, Vol. XXIX, page io6, April, 1898. "^
47
died between June 25, 1713 (date of will), and Sept. 13,
1713 (when will was proved). This will is on record in
Kingston (in low Dutch). His widow was on tax roll
until 1728, and must, at that time, have been nearly
ninety years of age. No record of children of Wallerand^
and Grietje Dumont, other than mentioned in will, has
been found, and if there were any others, they died without
issue. Children were:
i Margaret^, baptized Dec. 28. 1664, at Kingston,
N. Y.; married Wm. Loveredge before Oct.
18, 1682 (date of baptism of first child); they
settled in Perth Amboy, N. J., and their de-
scendants are " Leveridge's " and " Lever-
ich's."
ii \Valran^ baptized Nov. 13, 1667, at Kingston,
N. Y.; married, March 24, 1688, Catrina Ter-
bosch of New York; they remained in Ulster
county, N. Y.
iii Ian Baptist^, date of baptism not found; married
before Nov . 18, 1694 (date of baptism of
daughter Sara') to Neeltje Cornelus Van
Vegten; some of descendants moved to
Greene county, N. Y.. and afterwards to
western New York, Michigan and Wisconsin,
iv Jannetje", date of baptism not known; married
Michel Van Vegten about 1697 and moved
to Somerset county, New Jersey, before 1700.
v Francyntie^, baptized July 21, 1674, Kingston,
N. Y.; married Fred Clute and settled in Sche-
nectady, N. Y.
48
vi Peter^, baptized April 20, 1679, Kingston, N. Y. ;
married, first Dec. 25, 1700, Femmetje
Teunise Van Middleswart (daughter of Ian
Teimissen, afterwards added " Van Middle-
swart," as he was born at Midwout, Wall-
about, now Brooklyn). They had: i, John^,
born August 29, 1704; married Annatje
(probably Ryerson); died 1760; had sons:
Peter Dirck and Abraham; ii, Abraham^, born
April 25, 1706; married Mattie Bergen Aug.
10, 1733; died Aug. 7, 1787; and had son,
Peter A.
Peter- Dumont married, second, Feb. 23, 1707, Cate-
lyntje, daughter of Jeronimus Jorise Rapalie. and had one
daughter Catelyntje^, who married Christian La Grange.
Peter^ Dumont married, third, Nov. 16, 171 1, Jannetje,
daughter of Hendrick Claesen Vechten or Vechte, now
spelled Veghte; they had:
i Margaret', born Jan. 24, 171 5; died Feb. 11,
1743; married George Bergen, June 3, 1738.
ii Hendrick', born March 22, 171 7; married twice,
and named in will, children surviving: Peter*,
Mary* and John*. (Of Hendrick' further
mention will be made.)
iii John Baptist', born April 13, 1719; died 1776;
married Maria Van Duyne, and she died Nov.
I5> 1763; they had one son who survived,
Peter J. B.* Dumont, who married Susan Van
49
, Middleswart and had three daughters (besides
sons and daughters who died in infancy),
iv Gerretee (or Charity)^, born March 23, 1721;
died Jan. 25, 1747; married George Vroom,
and had sons, Peter D.* and Henry*; Peter D.*
Vroom was the Col. Vroom of New Jersey
troops in the Revolution, and father of Gov.
Vroom.
V Jannetje (or Jane)^, born April 27, 1723; married
Peter Vroom, and had sons, Peter*, Henry*
and George*,
vi Peter^, born Nov. 11, 1725; died Nov. 21, 1808;
married May 19, 1748, Brachie Vroom, and
had large family; the only male survivor of
this branch now found is Mr. John B. Du-
mont, of Allegan, Mich., who has a son, also
named John B., who is a messenger for the
Adarris Express Company, and lives at No. 477
South Lincoln street, Chicago,
vii Rynear^, born April 3, 1728; married Annaetje
Brouwer, and had one son and one daughter.
Peter^ Dumont (Wallerandi) settled in New Jersey
about 1700, about the time his father-in-law (Ian Teun-
issen Van Middleswart) and many others from Long Is-
land settled there. He purchased, June 10, 1702, a tract
of two thousand acres of land for £380 from Thomas
Cooper, of London, one of the West Jersey proprietors.
Note.— Peter 2 Dumont, Wallerand '), had also one son by first wife and
one son by third wife, who both died in infancy.
4
50 '
It was located in Hillsborough township, Somerset
county, N. J., on south side of Raritan river, and about
two miles west of present village of Raritan, and three
miles west of Somerville, the county seat of Somerset
county. A part of this tract was inherited by his son,
John Baptist^, and through him by Peter J. B.* Dumont,
who died without male heirs and the tract passed out of
the family name. The eldest sons of Peter^, that is John^
and Abraham^, had tracts of their own before their father
died; John^ about five hundred acres near North Branch
village, on the north branch of the Raritan river, and
Abraham* about five hundred acres directly south of the
river opposite Somerville. In the house built by Abraham*
(or in additions thereto) were born the following named
male descendants: his son, Peter A.*; grandsons, John P.",
Abraham P.**, and Peter P.'; great-grandsons, Peter P.'
and John S. Vredenburg^; great-great-grandsons, John B.'',
Henry D.'', and Peter''. The eldest of the latest genera-
tion mentioned, John B.'' Dumont, Esq., has resided in
Plainfield, N. J., since 1869.
Peter^ Dumont (Wallerand^) was a member of Eleventh
assembly of New Jersey, in Colonial Legislature, and died
in 1744. He was also an elder in First Dutch church,
Raritan.
3 Hendrick* Dumont (Peter^, Wallerand^) married,
first, Mary Traverier, the younger (only child of Mary
Traverier, the elder); number of children born to this
marriage not known, but it is certain that only two
reached maturity; they were:
" 51
4 i Peter*, born on Staten Island in 1744.*
ii Mary*, married a " Staats," of Albany, N. Y.
3 Hendrick^ Dumont married, second, Nov. 29, 1749,
Catharine Oothout, of New York, and according to
Oothout Family Bible they had:t
i Johannes*, born Sept. 22, 1750.
ii Henry Hendrick*, born Oct. 16, 1751.
iii Abraham*, born April 27, 1753.
iv William*, born May 28, 1755.
V Jannetje*, born Feb. 20, 1757.
vi Catelina*, born March 7, 1759.
vii Hendrick*,
viii Catalina*, (twins) born Nov. 26, 1760 (and
after decease of their father, Hend-
rick^).
3 Hendrick^ Dumont (Peter^, Wallerand') died Nov.
8, 1760. He was a merchant in New York city. In his
will there recorded he left his lands in Somerset county,
N. J., left to him by his father, Peter^ Dumont, to be
rented until his eldest son became of age, and then to be
sold and the proceeds to be divided equally among his
children, Peter*, Mary* and John*, also house and lot
* A brief but interestinsr sketch of the " Hii^uennts of Stafen Island "
will be found in Contin. Mo. Vol. I. page 683. A daughter of Peter" Du-
mont (Tane*) said, about i860, she had seen in "an old Harner" some
pictures of houses on Staten Island and innmedi:itelv recog-nized one among
them as the old Dumont home, which had probably then passed into other
hands. This picture the writer has heen unable 10 locate
t .See published records of the Reformed Dutch Thnrch in New York,
in The Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. XXVIII, pp. 103-143,
and previously. •' '
52
called " Lottery House " at Piscataway landing (near
New Brunswick. N. J.) to Peter*; one hundred pounds
sterling to Mary*, and house and lot, Duke street, New
York,* to John*, and eight hundred pounds sterling to his
wife Catherine and child that may be born. Will dated
Nov. 4, 1760, and names executors, his brother, Peter*,
and friends, John Alstine, Eronimus Alstine and John
Oothout. The above is all taken (by J. B. Dumont, Esq.)
from will as recorded, but the writer has received a copy
of a copy of the same will, from Mr. Eugene R. Detraz,
of Vevay, Indiana, a great-great-grandson of Peter* Du-
mont (Hendrick^, Peter', Wallerand^), which fully con-
firms all particulars herein given. It has been considered
strange that the will of Hendrick* Dumont should only
name three children, Peter*, Mary*, and John*, as surviv-
ing. Five of the children born by second marriage are not
mentioned in will; two certainly had died, as the twins
born after father's decease took names of two born before,
and besides these two, three others seem to have died
young, which is possible, but seems somewhat improbable.
According to family tradition, Peter* Dumont had a
(half?) sister, Catharine*, who married a " Staats."t They
*In "The Todd Genealogy" by R- H. Greene, A. M. (New York, 1867),
page 12, is given a copy of a legal instrument, executed in November, 1762,
wherein reference is made to some property in New York city, described
as " Lot No. 18, in Montgomery Ward, east side of street or highway, from
Smith's Fly to the fresh water, bounded northerly to the ground formerly
of Jno. Oathout, but late of Hendrick Domun ;" &c. This " Hendrick
Domun " was, perhaps, Hendrick ^ Dumont, then (1762) deceased. See
appendix, page 158.
f Those interested in the " Staats " family will find a sketch of Barent P.
Staats, one-time mayor of Albany, New York, and a descendant of Dr.
53
had one child, Catherine", who never married, lived to
great age, was wealthy, died in Albany, N. Y. This Cath-
erine* Dumont was, no doubt, one of the twins born after
decease of Hendrick* Dumont. Catelind became Cath-
erine in many old records.
After the death of his first wife, Mary Traverier, the
younger, Hendrick^ Dumont continued to maintain re-
spect for his mother-in-law, as is evidenced by a letter
written to her by him, shortly before his decease. The
original (yellow and time-worn) is now in the possession
of Mrs. Julia Merrill Moores, of Indianapolis, Indiana, to
whom it was presented about i860, by her grand aunt.
Jane' (Peter*). By the kindness of Mrs. Moores, the
writer gives below a copy of this letter. It is addressed.
To
Mrs. Marey Traverier
Att
pisfchataway Landing
these
and reads as follows:
New York March ist 1759
Honored Mother These shall sarve to aqu't you That whe
are all in Responsebel good health Thank God Exceptmg
my wife has a bad swelling on one of hir Eyes which quit
puts hir out of Orther. I hope you are well. These shall
sarve to aqu't you that I ame abought selling your Land
Abraham Staats who came from Holland to Albany, N. Y., in 1642, in the
American Biographical Sketch Book, by William Hunt (New York, 1848),
page 163. The student of Staats family history will need to peruse "The
Annals of Albany" by Joel Munsell, Vol. I. (Albany, 1850), and subse-
quent volumes. See Appendix, page 159.
54
and whether you are willing that I shold sale the same for
£400 — this money And if you are willing wright me wit
the first opertunity And let me know Also let me know
wat you have thought of Bording your self till I can git
a Room for you heare Also let me know wat you stand in
Need of that I may help you if I can. I conclude wit my
kind Love to you And am Your Dutefull Son
Henry Dumont.
p. s. My Daughter Marey Remembers hir love to you.
PETER J. B.* Dumont (John Baptist^, Peter^, Wal-
lerand}), married Susan Van Middleswart and had three
daughters, as follows:
i Jane^, married Fred. Frelinghuysen; they were
the parents of Fred. Frelinghuysen, U. S.
Senator from New Jersey, and Secretary of
State under President Arthur,
ii Maria^, married Wm. Etmendorf.
iii Ann^, married Peter Dumont' Vroom, who was
afterwards Governor of New Jersey.
4 PETER* Dumont {Hendrick^, Peter^, Wallerand^),
was, as previously stated, born on Stat en Island in 1744.
He, however, removed to Hillsboro township, Somerset
county, New Jersey, where he resided during the period of
the war of the American Revolution. Family tradition
recites that he was (as indeed appears the inscription
upon his tombstone in Vevay, Indiana) " A soldier of the
Revolution;" that his services for the cause of freedom
were even more outside the ranks than as a soldier, and
55
that General Washington often consulted him. Certain
accounts still in existence indicate that he may have been
in the commissary department, but it is, perhaps, more
likely that he was the " Peter Dumont, Captain, Second
Battalion, Somerset," mentioned in Adj. Gen. Stryker's
Official Register, page 389. (See Appendix, p. 152.) It
is also said that Peter* Dumont " ran mills day and night
to help the soldiers at Valley Forge" and that this re-
sulted, ultimately, in irretrievable loss to him financiallv.
Family tradition further recites that at one time " He was
High Sheriff of the county in which he lived," and, indeed,
this item might seem to be confirmed by the " History of
Somerset County," New Jersey, by Dr. Abraham Messier,
where, in a list of sheriffs, page 6 of Appendix, we find
" ^777> '78, '79. Peter Dumont," but certain indications
point to this having been some other than Peter* Du-
mont.* The latter moved to New Brunswick, N. J., as
will be shown by the record of births of his children.
From thence he went to Saratoga, New York, and was
probably the proprietor of Dumont's ferry, which, a cen-
tury ago, was located on the Hudson river about two miles
and one-half below Fort Miller. A toll-bridge has since
been erected there and the Champlain canal crosses the
river in that immediate vicinity. Captain Moses Guest
(a son-in-law of Peter* Dumont) relates in his " Poems
and Journal," second edition (Cincinnati, 1824), page 144,
that on December nth, 1796, he was at Dumont's Ferry
and had a conversation with " Mr. Dumont." From that
locality Peter* Dumont removed, about 1814, with his wife
* See Appendix, p. 149 .
5^
to Vevay, Switzerland county, Indiana, where he resided
until his decease in 1821, aged yy years. He married
Mary Lowe* (or Low), a daughter of Cornelius Lowe,
October 25th, 1770. After the death of her husband,
Peter* Dumont, Mrs. Mary Lowe-Dumont went to live
with her son, Abram B.^ Dumont, in Vevay. The family
papers and records, therefore, very naturally fell into the
hands of the latter's children, and his daughter, Mrs. M,
J."^ Morerod (in order to facilitate answering the writer's
inquiries) placed most of them in the hands of Mr. Eugene
R. Detraz, who, as before stated, is a great-great-grandson
of Peter* Dumont, and a French scholar. Mr. Detraz
advises that some are in French and others in English, the
former mostly in the original, and the latter, in some in-
stances, copies. Among the papers are some wills, mar-
riage contracts, receipts, accounts and letters, some dating
as eai-ly as 1660. Business engagements prevent Mr.
Detraz from furnishing copies of all the documents, but
he has kindly enabled the writer to present those appear-
ing in subsequent sketch entitled " The Maternal Ancestry
of Peter Dumont, of Vevay, Indiana."
Peter* Dumont was an earnest Presbyterian, a strong
Calvinist, " a fatalist." He accumulated quite a library,
mostly religious books, still preserved in Vevay. His
arduous services (particularly night work) in behalf of his
country during the Revolution conduced to the ultimate
loss of his eyesight, and, during the last twenty-five years
* The vowel sound in the name " Lowe" is not long "o" but is pro-
nounced as in the word " allowed." It is said that a large portrait of Maiy
Lowe-Dumont is now in Indianapolis, in the possession of the family of
the late General Ebenezer Dumont.
57
of his life his faithful wife read to him. Although sight-
less, old and poor, he was too proud to accept a pension.
It is not surprising that he endeavored, as will be shown,
to secure the restoration of his ancestral estates in
France.* It is, of course, highly improbable that the
French government would now take any action in that
direction.
Peter* Dumont's wife, nee Mary Lowe, was a most es-
timable woman in every respect. She was fair, with
beautiful blue eyes. The writer has been informedf that
Mr. Bush, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in In-
dianapolis, said, at one time, that Mrs. Mary Lowe-
Dumont was, in character and attainments, among the
most superior women he had met in the west; that she
read the best books and was a particularly pleasing reader.
Her parents, Cornelius and Catharine Lowe, lived in
Schamoken, New Jersey, during the French and Indian
War — were warned by a friendly Indian to move, lest
they be massacred. They went to Genessee, N. Y. Their
daughter, Mary, was born in Schamoken, N. J., in 1750.
(For these latter items relating to the Lowe family, the
writer is indebted to Mrs. Julia Merrill Moores, of Indian-
apolis, who adds that she saw her great-grandmother,
Mary Lowe-Dumont, just before her death, and that the
latter appeared very cheerful and " interested me much by
reciting poem after poem." Mrs. Moores' information
relating to Lowe family was received by her -chiefly from
her grandaunt, Jane'.) Mrs. Moores has also kindly fur-
* See page 72.
f Kindness of Mrs. V. L. Hay, Crawfordsville, Indiana.
58
nished the following (which, by the way, is fully confirmed
by data received by the writer from Mrs. M. J. Morerod,
of Vevay, Indiana, where is preserved the original Family
Bible, Dutch text, which has never been out of the family;
record is in handwriting of Peter* Dumont) :
" A copy made from the flyleaf of my great-grandfather
Dumont's bible — now in the possession of his great-
grandson, Dumont Reid:*
" Peter Dumont, son of Hendrick, grandson of Peter,
was born the ist day of October 1744. Mary Lowe,
Daughter of Cornelius Lowe and grand daughter of Al-
bert Lowe was born the 3rd day of June 1750. Peter
Dumont and Mary Lowe were Married on Thursday the
25th October 1770 by Dominie Van Haerlengen.
Thursday August 15 th 1771, was Born our first daugh-
ter, Mary, at 7 o'clock in the morning and baptized by
Domini Van Haerlengen.
Monday August 30th 1773 was Born my second daugh-
ter Lidea at 8 o'clock in the morning and Baptized by
Domini Van Haerlengen.
Monday the 13th November 1775 was born our third
daughter Catharine at 7 o'clock in the morning — and
Baptized by Domini Van Haerlengen.
Monday January 19th 1778 was bom our first son Hen-
drick at 2 o'clock in the morning and Baptized by Domini
Van Haerlengen.
Tuesday June 13th 1780 was Born our Second son Peter
* This is the Rev. John Dumont Reid, who is at present (March, 1898),
minister of All Souls Church, Greenfield, Mass. His father, the Rev. A.
S. Reid, resides in Fulton, Rock county, Wisconsin. The Rev. J. D.
Reid vouches positively for correctness of copy in possession of Mrs. J.
M. Moores,
' > 59 i
at 2 o'clock in the morning and Baptized by Domini Haer-
lengen.
Monday, June 24th 1782 was born our fourth daughter
Jane at 2 o'clock in the afternoon and Baptized by Domini
Van Haerlengen.
Monday, July 5th 1784 New Brunswick (West Jersey)
was bom our fifth daughter Anne at half past eleven at
night and Baptized by Domini Van Bunscholten.
New Brunswick Monday, January 8th 1787 was Born
our third son, at ten o'clock and was baptized by Domini
Hardenburg, and named John.
New Brunswick West Jersey the 2nd of September
Wednesday 1789 was bom at 2 o'clock in the afternoon
our fourth son Abraham — was baptized by Domini Hard-
enburgh."*
Peter* Dumont died in 1821, in Vevay, Indiana, and
his wife in January, 1841. The latter's funeral took place
from the residence of her son, A. B.' Dumont (with whom
she had long lived), Monday, January 25th, 1841. Long
may the name of Peter* Dumont be preserved as of a
patriot who gave his all for his country; long may his wife
be remembered as typical of all that is best and noblest In
womanhood. Numerous descendants in the later genera-
tions remain to render homage to their memory.
MARY" Dumont (Peter*), married Thomas Laing, or
Long, of Fort Edward, N. Y. ; settled in Saratoga, N. Y.
*This " Domini Hardenburgh" was the Dr. Jacob R. Hardenburgh, of
Somerset county, N. J., between Gen. Washington and whom there was a
close friendship. See " History of Somerset county," by Dr. Abraham
Messier, page 114.
6o
LYDIA* Dumont (Peter*), married Captain Moses
Guest, of New Brunswick, N. J., June 28, 1792. Guest
Family Bible now in possession of Rev. Andrew J. Rey-
nolds (their grandson), of Norwood, a suburb of Cincin-
nati, Ohio, states that Lydia^ Dumont was born at South
Branch of Raritan, Aug. 30th, 1773, and died in Cincin-
nati, Oct. 29th, 1822. (For her descendants, see page
41.) She was the great-grandmother of the writer.
Catherine^ (f^/fr*), married Captain Robert Anderson;
settled at Palantine, N. Y. (She " was one of the thirteen
girls who scattered flowers at Trenton when Washington
went on to his inaugural.")
They had:
i Lydia Jane® Anderson (Catherine'^, Peter*), mar-
ried Samuel Merrill, of Indianapolis; a promi-
nent man in his day; treasurer of Indiana; pres-
ident of State Bank; trustee of Wabash
College,
ii Catharine" Anderson (Catherine'^, Peter*), mar-
ried Judge Isaac Naylor, of Crawfordsville,
Indiana,
iii William Dumont* Anderson (Catherine^, Peter*),
was very talented, a great wit, a fine physician
in Louisiana; a rebel, set fire with his own
hands to every building, etc., on his cotton
plantation when the Union army was ap-
proaching.
HENRY" Dumont (Peter*), died early.
' 6i
PETER* Dumont (Peter*), a bachelor; was a surveyor
(as were also his brothers, John' and Abram"*); died in
Vevay, Indiana.
JANE» Dumont (Peter*), married, first (in New York),
William Wickam, of Canada, a fur trader; (?) settled in
Canada; had one son, a printer; married, second, a " Steel,"
who was a Methodist minister, and they had one daughter,
Patience; married, third, a " Murphey," and died in Vevay,
Ind. She apparently took great interest in the family
history. Many of the traditions and items of interest
trace to her as authority.
ANNE^ or ANN^ Dumont (Peter*) married, in ad-
vanced years, a " Coffinger," Saratoga, N. Y.
JOHN' Dumont (Peter*), married Julia L. Corey;
settled in Vevay, Ind., about 1814, where Mrs. Julia L.
Corey-Dumont died January 2nd, 1857. Her husband
died early in February, 1871.
John'' and Julia L. Corey-Dumont had:*
i Peter«.
ii Ebenezer®, born in Vevay, Indiana Territory,
Nov. 23rd, 18 14; died in IndianapoHs, April
i6th, 1871. He was the late General Ebe-
nezer Dumont.
*The above list of children of John and Julia L. Dumont is based upon
information furnished the editor by Mrs. Julia M. Moores and Mr. Joseph
Shipp, of Indianapolis, the latter having married Juliet, daughter of Martha
Dumont-Campbell. Advice from another source mentions, also, sons,
John, Henry and Edgar, but they must have died in infancy.
62
iii Mary®, married a brother of Hon. Robert N,
Lamb.
iv Martha®, married Wm. Campbell, a lawyer of
promise; died in 1845, leaving children: i,
Louise, married " Detraz," Vevay, Ind; ii,
Juliet, married " Shipp," Indianapolis; iii,
Annette Campbell; iv, Mrs. Lide M. Hender-
son, Mishawaka, Ind.; v, Wm. L. Campbell,
lawyer, of California.
V Marietta', married Hon. Robert N. Lamb, of
Indianapolis, Sept., 1847, and died in Indian-
apolis, May, 1876.
vi Julia L.®, married Rev. Archibald Reid. (See
foot-note, page 58.
vii Aurelius*.
viii Cornelius®.
ABRAHAM", or ABRAM», Dumont (Peter*), married,
in December, 1820, Isabella R. Todd, who was a daughter
of Owen and Jane (Paxton) Todd. Her parents removed
to Vevay, Indiana, in 1816. Isabella R. Todd was born in
Lebanon, Ohio, Nov. 24, 1804, and died in Vevay, Indi-
ana, February 2nd, 1879. She was a first cousin of Mrs.
Abraham Lincoln (nee Mary Todd). Their respective
fathers, Owen and Robert S. Todd having been brothers.*
The writer is informed that family tradition relates that
* Very brief mention of this hranch of the TodH familvis made in "The
Todd Genealog;!'," by Richard H. Greene, A. M. (New York, i867\ page
vii. Several references to the Todd family will, however, be found in a
book entitled "Historic Families of Kentucky," by Green, published by
The Robert Clarke Company, Cincinnati, some ten years ago.
63
Isabella R. Todd's brother (father?), Owen Todd, at the
age of fourteen, acted as the guide of General Washington
on his retreat from Valley Forge. Mrs. Jane (Paxton)
Todd died in Vevay in March, 1835, ^"d the funeral took
place on the 23rd of that month " from the residence of
her son, R. W. Todd." Abram^ Dumont, as he was gen-
erally known, was a merchant in Vevay, Indiana, of which
place he was among the early settlers. He died Dec. 12,
1842, having had issue:
i Mary Jane®, married Rudolph Morerod; she is
now residing in Vevay.
ii Ann M.®, married George R. Todd,
iii Eliza S.®, married David Armstrong,
iv Isabella R.®, married Rudolph Grisard, and now
residing in Vevay.
v Julia L.®, married Frank P. Dupray.
vi Edgar*.
vii Smith B.", was in Mexican War; removed to
Australia; married, and has issue, one daugh-
ter, Isabella R.'' Dumont, and others,
viii Sidney Merrill*.
ix Eugene A.*, dentist; now residing in Chicago;
married and has son, who is also married and
has children.
X John".
The Rev. John Dumont Reid (son of Julia and grandson
of Colonel John Dumont), was born in Vevay, Indiana,
January 19, 1861; married June 30, 1891, Bessie Gertrude
Basye, at Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Is now (April, 1898)
- 64 • .'
minister of All Souls' Church (Unitarian) at Greenfield,
Mass., and has issue:
i Kenneth Dumont, born at Fergus Falls, Minn.,
May 14th, 1892.
ii Margaret, born at Great Falls, Montana, May
19, 1896.
Judge Isaac Naylor, of Crawfordsville, Indiana, married
Mary Catherine Anderson, daughter of Catherine Du-
mont-Anderson, and had eight children, all girls, as
follows:
i Sarah Jane, living in Crawfordsville, Ind.
ii Elizabeth, widow of Rev. William W. Brier; re-
sides in Spokane, Washington. The Rev.
Brier was a pioneer Presbyterian minister in
California,
iii Mary Catherine, died in infancy,
iv Mary Dorothy, married Rev. Matthew White-
ford. They live in Sioux City, Iowa,
v Catherine Anderson, married Prof. Columbus
Brier, of Oakland, California. Address, No.
522 Charter street. They had four children:
i, Martha; ii. Rose; iii, Charles Naylor; iv, Eliz-
abeth Naylor.
vi Virginia Lydia, married Dr. Andrew Jennings
Hay, who had been previously married, his first
Note. — Dr. Andrew Jennings Hay was a prominent man in Indiana ;
member of Legislature, clerk of Circuit Court, member of State Central
Committee, National Bank Examiner, elder in Presbyterian church; an
ardent Mason and Republican. Master of his lodge seventeen years.
Grand Master of the state one term. A gentleman of splendid physique;
kind and courteous to all. He was descended from the Bainbridges, Stites
and Gano's of New Jersey. Died in 1897.
6s
wife having been Rebecca Garrett, of Wash-
ington, Penn., and had issue. Of the second
marriage, issue as follows: i, Flora Naylor; ii,
Kate Merrill, married Hon. Wirt E. Humph-
rey, United States Commissioner, Chicago,
Illinois.
vii Julia Dumont, married Rev. M. M. Whiteford.
She died young, leaving two sons: i, Robert
Naylor, Ph. D., Professor of EngHsh, Peoria,
111., High School; ii, William Jackson, student,
Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Ind.
viii Flora Merrill, died at the age of eighteen.
Elizabeth Naylor, daughter of Judge Isaac Naylor, was
born Aug. 20, 1830, and married, Dec. 19, 1849, Rev. Wm.
Wallace Brier, who was bom Nov. 6, 1821, and who died
June 3rd, 1887. Mrs. Elizabeth Naylor Brier now lives in
Spokane, Wash.
Issue:
i Lizzie, born Sept. 22, 1850; died Sept. 19, 1895;
married, Feb. 14, 1883, to Robert J. Trumbull.
ii Mary, born Nov. 27, 1852; married, Dec. 30,
1880, to Charles W. Moores, whose children
are: i. An infant son, born Feb. 20, 1882, died
same day; ii, Elizabeth Maria, born Nov. 23,
1883; iii, Louise Trumbull, born Oct. 12, 1886,
died Aug. 29, 1890; iv, Charles Brier, born
Nov. 6th, 1889.
iii CaroHne, born Sept. 19, 1856; married, June 6th,
1885, George Frederick Schorr, whose children
5
66
are: i, Margaret Lizzie, born Oct. 26, 1886;
ii, Wm. Brier, born Jan. 27, 1889; iii, Geo.
Frederick, born Nov. 15th, 1890, died Sept.
20, 1894; iv, Berkeley Kellogg, born Nov. 2,
1892; V, Carolyn Louise, born Aug. 27, 1895;
vi, Katharine Naylor, born Nov. 18, 1897.
iv Wm. Wallace, Jr., born Aug. 7, 1858; married,
March 27, 1889, Helen M. Blake, whose chil-
dren are: i, Wm. Wallace, born Feb. 7, 1890;
ii, Edward Blake, born Aug. 29, 1891; iii,
Helen Naylor, bom Apr. i6th, (?) 1894.
v Louise Brier, born Nov. 17, 1862; married, July
29, 1 89 1, Rev. Howard Whittlesey Stratton,
who died Aug. 23, 1895. One child: i, Eliza-
beth Brier, born June 2nd, 1892.
Dr. Wm. Dumont Anderson, son of Capt. Robert An-
derson, was born Feb. 9th. 1813, in the State of New York.
Died in Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 19, 1867. His wife, Mary
Ann Catlin, was born Dec. 25, 1819, in Virginia, and died
in Covington, Tenn., Nov. 13, 1883.
They had:
i Theodore Dumont. born in Louisiana, June 10,
1835; died in Los Angeles, Cal., Jan. 14, 1895;
married Josephine Burdick Jan. 3, i860,
ii Jane, born in Louisiana, May 12, 1838, married
Wm. Merrill, June 4, 1861, and, after Mr. Mer-
rill's death, married G. W. Sargent. She is
now living with her son, Wm. Merrill, Eddy,
Texas.
^7
iii Simeon, born in Louisiana, Sept. 19, 1843, died
in Mississippi, Jan. 5, 1870.
iv Julia Merrill, born in Louisiana, Aug. 15, 1846;
married W. T. Grant, Nov. 8, 1871; died in
Covington, Tenn., Aug. 16, 1893.
V Lizzie Dumont, bom in Louisiana, March 20th,
1861; married T. E. Ralph, Oct. 15, 1879; now
living near Covington, Tenn.
A. B. Dumont.
[From Vevay Reveille, Die. 2, 1842.]
DIED, on the morning of the 12th inst., our respected
townsman and highly esteemed friend, A. B. DUMONT,
Esq., merchant of this place, aged fifty-three years.
Truly may it be said, " that in the midst of Hfe we are
in death ; " as only a few days previous to his decease, Mr.
Dumont was attending to his usual business, so that the
melancholy event was sudden and unexpected, even to
his family. Without any symptoms of a particular disease,
or any expressed sensibility of pain, notwithstanding the
best medical assistance, he sunk with accelerated rapidity
during the three days of his illness, when life terminated
without an apparent struggle.
Mr. Dumont was among the early settlers of Vevay,
and has been constantly engaged in business since his
arrival in the place. As a merchant, he was punctual,
honest and honorable in all his dealings — as a citizen, he
was highly esteemed for public spirit and exemplarv
morals — and as a husband and father, those who were
acquainted with him in his family can alone appreciate
68
his inestimable worth. He was a man of extensive infor-
mation, derived from much reading and serious reflection,
which a nice dehcacy of feeling accompanied with extreme
modesty, in a great measure concealed. But his great
object was the happiness and moral elevation of his be-
loved family; and for this end he used every exertion to
aiiford them the means of mental improvement and of
acquiring useful knowledge. With respect to religion,
his views were philanthropic and generous, and based
upon that sublime feeling of devotion which warms and
expands the heart and elevates the soul to its maker.
Whilst he firmly believed in the essential doctrines of
Christianity and the efficacy of true religion in promot-
ing social order and virtue, he was entirely free from that
gloomy superstition and sectarian bigotry which sours the
temper, damps the feelings and contracts the heart.
Hence he supported liberally the diflferent churches in this
place — treated with kindness and hospitality respectable
clergymen of every denomination, and regularly accom-
panied his amiable family to public worship. By his death
society has been deprived of a useful member, and his
family has sustained a loss to them irreparable. May he
who tempers the winds to the shorn lamb — who is the
widow's stay and the orphan's shield — support the dis-
consolate widow in her affliction, and comfort the mourn-
ing family under their melancholy bereavement. M.
69
Mrs. Isabella Dumont.
[From Vevay Reveille, Feb. 13, 1879.]
The life of Mrs. Isabella Dumont, whose death we re-
corded last week, merits more than a brief and passing-
notice. It was a life full of suggestions to those who
look beneath the surface and mark the workings of human
effort. It was a hfe full of pain and suffering, but of many
consolations. If the burden at times seemed overpower-
ing, in the end the requisite strength was surely accorded;
the spirit was faithful unto the end, and fortitude amid
suffering was the predominant characteristic of a life
whose piety, good deeds and Christian graces are monu-
ments of everlasting remembrance.
Mrs. Dumont was in the seventy-fourth year of her age,
having been born November 24, 1804. She came to
Vevay in 18 17, and thereafter her long life was spent amid
the quiet scenes which surrounded her last days of earth.
In 1820, in her early youth, she became the wife of Mr.
A. B. Dumont, a gentleman whose genial disposition and
many qualities of mind and heart formed her complete
happiness, and to whose memory she devoted thirty-six
years of widowhood. They were years trying to the soul.
The care of her young family was her one solace and
whole duty. She brought to its discharge the firmness
of purpose and force of character for which she was re-
markable. Two unfailing sources of courage and
strength she kept always before her mental vision; the
one an unwavering trust in the goodness and mercy of
God, the other an active, faithful and zealous member-
ship in the Methodist Church. In the one she sought the
rest and consolation promised to " the weary and heavy
laden," while fighting the hard battle of the world, and
seeking to direct the young hearts of her children in the
paths of rectitude and virtue; in the other a safe guidance,
and found the commission of its membership a source of
untold comfort, and a support to which she clung with
increasing tenacity as the trials of life and bodily infirmity
increased.
With each succeeding year of patient endurance her
devoted children and friends marked the sure progress
of disease, so that while her death was long expected, the
blow seemed but Httle modified in severity by that fact.
She " fought the good fight " with a fortitude and stead-
iness, patience and courage, which testified to her abiding
faith and Christian strength, and will be lasting memories
in the hearts of those blessed by her bright example.
Her life of suffering was crowned by a death calm and
painless, a foreshadowing of the untold peace to come.
In the silent watches of a Sabbath evening, her children
all about her, serenely as the day passed into the night,
she walked through " the valley of the shadow of death,"
laid the burden of life at the feet of her Saviour, and put
on immortality.
" She has carried her Cross with unfaltering heart
Through this wearisome pathway of sorrow,
But the shadows of nierht-time have drifted apart.
In the dawn of a happier morrow.
Or sadness or jov are alike to her now
For God's benediction is o'er her,
And the radiant seal of the saints on her brow —
Eternity lieth before her.
71
Earth's tears and its trials, Death's terror and strife
Are memories misty and olden ;
She has laid them aside with the burden of life,
At the gates of the paradise golden.
In pastures where grief never comes, nor alarms,
The lambs of the shepherd are sleeping.
And knowing He holdeth her safe in His arms —
O, how can her children be weeping ? "
Among the " Biographical Annals," in the second part
of this book, we give a sketch of the life of the late General
Ebenezer Dumont, of Indiana. It is a pleasure to be able
to present, in this place, the following additional data:
When Fort Sumter was fired upon, Ebenezer Dumont
commenced recruiting for and organizing the Seventh
Indiana Regiment. When the regiment was fully re-
cruited he was appointed colonel and was immediately
ordered, with his regiment, to western Virginia, where, on
June 1st, 1861, they engaged and defeated the enemy at
Phillipi, winning the first victory of the Rebellion. On
September 3rd, 1861, President Lincoln appointed Col.
Dumont Brigadier-General of Volunteers, and assigned
him to the command of a brigade in Kentucky, where he
served in that capacity until August, 1862, when he was
assigned to the command of a division in the Army of the
Cumberland, and served until elected to Congress in 1862.
General Ebenezer Dumont died April i6th, 1871, and
left a family consisting of a widow, Mrs. Mary A. Dumont,
now residing in Indianapolis, and seven daughters, as
follows :
i Fannie, married David Braden, Indianapolis,
ii Julia, widow, living in Washington, D. C.
72
iii Martha, married H. E. Drew, Indianapolis,
iv Emma, married M. D. Watson, Chicago.
V Isabel, married J. N. Williams, Indianapolis,
vi Anna, married R. E. Springsteen, Indianapolis,
vii Jessie, married W. S. Whitney, Indianapolis.
The Maternal Ancestpy of Peter Dumont,
of Vevay, Indiana.
The editor takes pleasure in presenting copies of many
of the old and interesting documents, affidavits, letters
and memoranda preserved among the family papers in
Vevay, Indiana, information of which has been furnished
by Mr. Eugene R. Detraz, of whom we have spoken
previously. (See page 56.)
Copy of a letter to the Mayor of Bordeaux:
" To tJie Citisen Mayor of the city of Bordeaux:
I Peter Dumont now living in the town, and county of
Saratoga in the state of New York humbly petition before
the honerable members of your city for the recovery of
properties left by my forefathers in the time of prosecu-
tion against the Protestants within the Generalite of Bor-
deaux in the village De La Tremblade, some situated
in the island of Ney, and some in Sintonge as you will find
by the papers annexed to this which will be delivered to
your honer by the Consul of the United States of America,
now residing in Bordeaux.
Sarxtoga April 20th, 1797."
73
(The writer cannot locate any record or tradition of a
reply having been received by Peter* Dumont to the above
letter.)
Memorandum, Made By Peter * Dumont.
" Captain Peter Traverier of Masha having married
Marie Arnand the widow of Jean Parlier of La Tramblade,
And this Peter Traverrier had two children, twins a son
and a daughter without issue. The sons name was Peter
Traverrier who married Mary Reseau (the daughter of
Renier Reseau) of the island of Ray (or in French L' He
De Ray) and they had an only child a daughter called
Mary Traverrier and this daughter was married to Hen-
rich Dumont of Rariton Landing and this daughter she
had one only son, that is Peter Dumont myself."
Copies of Affidavits.
New Jersey* JohnTiaptist Dumont aged fifty-two years
personally appeared before me Johnf Berrier one of the
justices of the supreme cort of the province of New Jersey
and being duly sworn maketh oath that to this deponent
has know the family of Peter Traverrier near thirty years
past. That on his first acquaintance with them that Peter
Traverier was deseased but Mary Traverier was commonly
and reputed to be the widow of the same peter was then
living, and that Mary Traverier the yonger was also com-
monly deemed and reputed as the only child and heir of
* In these places following " New Jersey " is a written letter or sign
similar to letter " Y," probably an abbreviated legal term.
fin this place, between "John" and "Berrier," are some marks or a
word which Mr. Detraz says he is not certain about, probably the name
■ Berrier " illegibly written and consequently erased and rewritten
74
this Peter Traverier, That Henrich Dumont the brother
of this deponent married this Mary Traverrier junior, that
Peter Dumont is the only son and heir at law of this Hend-
rich and Mary who are both dead.
John Baptist Dumont
Sworn before me this 7th September 1771.
John Berrier.
New Jersey* Peter Dumont the elder, aged forty-six
years, also maketh oath that the contents of the above
afifidavit are just and true, and also that to this deponent
hath known the family of Peter Traverrier about thirty
years and is brother to the aforesaid Hendrich Dumont.
Peter Dumont.
Sworn this day aforesaid before me John Berrier.
Contract of marriage of Pierre (Peter) Traverrier and
Marie (Mary) Arnand — translated from French:
To-day the 4th day of January, 1688, we, Pierre Traver-
rier, ship captain, and Marie Arnand, widow of Jean (John)
Perlier promise to take each other as husband and wife,
the laws of our church being previously observed, we agree
to live together in common as husband and wife the rest
of our days, and in case one of us should die, the one re-
maining shall enjoy in his own right all the wealth the two
parties may possess, to dispose of as he may see fit, to sell,
assign, rent, etc., according as he may judge proper, and
in case both of us should die without children from this
marriage we declare the children of the first marriage, who
* See foot-note on preceding page.
75
are Andre (Andrew) Perlier, and Jean Perlier, our legiti-
mate heirs. Furthermore: I, Pierre Traverrier give to
Marie Arnand the enjoyment of all my property and pre-
tentions in France, in case the state of affairs should
change and the liberty of the protestant religion should be
re-established, giving her the usufruct in general of all that
may belong to me. To all of these articles we have agreed
in the presence of Mr. Carre, our minister depository of
this document, and of the witnesses below named. In
witness whereof we have all signed; done at Frenchtown
in Narragansett the said day and year above named.
Signed. Pierre Traverrier, Marie Arnand on the one side,
and on the other the witnesses, Carre minister, Jacques
Many, Andre Arnand, Abraham Dumas.
P. Bouyot, copiest of the said document.
I, the undersigned, declare the present copy to be faith-
fully coppied from the original, in witness whereof I have
fixed my hand and seal; done at Frenchtown in Narragan-
sett the 5th day of January 1688.
Carre minister (seal).
[Extract of the paper of the consistory L'Eglise Fran-
cise (French Church)].
April 20th, 1688, Pierre Traverrier and Marie Arnand
received the nuptial benediction from Mr. Carre our min-
NoTE BY Mr. E. R. Detraz. — This affidavit seems to be written in a
different hand and bears a seal in red wax. The two additional items given
below seem to be written in the same hand as the first article above given;
that is, in the same hand as the marriage contract, but with a different pen
and at a different time, as the date, January 6th, 1690, will show. All these
articles are written in the French, on one and the same sheet.
76
ister, the three publications having been previously made
according to the form of our church; in witness whereof
we have signed. Carre minister, Pierre Traverrier, Marie
Arnand, Jacques Many elder, Pierre Bonyot, elder, and
secretary, Moise Brun elder.
On the 6th day of January 1689 were baptized by Mr.
Carre our minister, Pierre and Marie Magdelenne Traver-
rier children of Pierre Traverrier and Marie Arnand, pre-
sented to baptism to wit, Pierre by Pierre Traverrier his
father and Jeanne Drommeau, and Marie Magdelenne by
Jacques Many and Magdelenne Filleul, godfathers and
godmothers; who declare the said children to be born the
last of the year 1688.
Signed Carre minister, Pierre Traverrier, P. Bonyot,
elder.
Extracted by me the 5th of January, 1690.
P. Bonyot, elder and secretary.
Among other papers are the following: (i) A letter from
Jonathan Dumont of New York to his brother, Peter
Dumont, New Brunswick, in which mention is made of a
house and mill at New Brunswick belonging to Peter
Dumont — date, Saturday, Sept. 5th, 1789. (2) A rough
sketch of John B. Dumont's estate, no date. (3) Inven-
tory of Marie Traverrier's goods, date February i8th,
1765. (4) A receipted account for £6, los ^d, of Marie
Note by Mr. E. R. Detraz. — Am not sure about this figure "6" in both
the dates, if being made with such a peculiar outline. However the' month
and year are plain enough.
f yj '
Traverrier to Henry Dumont, no date. (5) Copies of will
of Peter Traverrier, June 23, 1743. (6) Copy of will of
Renier Reseau, February 18, 17 19, part gone. (7) Con-
tract of Apprenticeship, Peter Dumont, son of Hendrick
Dumont, to G. Rapalye, to learn merchandising, April 10,
1 76 1, part gone or time worn. (8) Contract of Appren-
ticeship, Peter Traverrier, son of Marie, widow of Peter
Traverrier to Peter Chaigneau, cooper, October 21, 1701.
The above-named papers are all written in English.
Mr. Detraz adds that there are other French papers
which are written in such a peculiar hand that it is difficult
to decipher them. The name of Marie Arnand appears in
nearly all of them.
The Rev. Andrew J. Reynolds, of Smith avenue, Nor-
wood, Cincinnati, Ohio, possesses a French Testament,
containing also the Psalms set to music, Prayers, Confes-
sion of Faith, etc. The book is five and one-half inches
long, three inches wide, and an inch thick, bound in black
leather. The four corners are protected by silver plates
and there are two silver clasps. On one of them are en-
graved the letters " M. R." On a fly-leaf is written " Hvre
apartient a Marye Rezeau," which means, " this book be-
longs to Mary Rezeau." Below that is written " En tout
temps et en toute saison il faut louer et reverer 1' eternel,"
which, translated, is, " at all times and in all seasons we
should love and reverence the eternal God." Another in-
scription is: " Mon Dieu Mon Roy," that is, " My God is
my king." Still another reads as follows: " Dieu tout
premier, puis pere et mere tou jour soit just," etc., " Let
God always occupy the first place, then let father and
78
mother come in. Always be just," etc. As the Rev.
Reynolds writes in his letter conveying the above infor-
mation, " Thestr inscriptions are worthy of the noble
Huguenots who were the honor and glory of France."
Notes on the Freling-huysen and Vroom Families,
of New Jersey.
Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen (i 691 -1747) was the
founder of the ilustrious family bearing that surname, in
New Jersey. His second son, John (i 727-1 754), was the
father of General Frederick Frelinghuysen, who was born
in Somerset county. New Jersey, April 13, 1753, and died
April 13, 1804. The general's third son, also named
Frederick Frelinghuysen, married Jane, a daughter of
Peter J. B. Dumont, and they were the parents of the late
Hon. Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen, who was born
in Millstone, New Jersey, August 4, 1817, and died in
Newark, N. J., May 20, 1885. The latter's father having
died when he was only three years old, he was adopted
by his uncle, Theodore Frelinghuysen. Both the uncle
and the adopted son were gentlemen of wide learning and
varied talents. For the details of their respective careers
the reader is referred to our Biographical Dictionaries, in
which they justly occupy a prominent place.
" The name of Vroom is found early on the records of
the church. Court Vroom seems to have been the first of
the name residing on the Raritan. Col, Peter D. Vroom,
of Revolutionary days, was a prominent citizen of Somer-
set county in his time. He was born Jan. 27, 1745, O. S.,
79
two miles from Raritan Landing. Early in life he lived
in New York, whence he came to reside on the Raritan,
near the junction of the north and south branches. The
homestead is now owned by Sexton Wyckofif. He mar-
ried Elsie Bogart, and died on this plantation. He was
one of the few individuals who raised the first military
company in the beginning of the revolutionary war, in
which he served as lieutenant and captain, and was ap-
pointed major of the Somerset battalion by joint meeting
in 1777; and afterwards a lieutenant-colonel. He Jed a
company at the battle of Germantown, and was in the ser-
vice during the war. During his life he occupied almost
every ofifice of trust in the county. At the close of the
revolution he was made high sheriff, and then clerk of the
pleas, afterwards a justice of the peace, a member of as-
sembly in 1791 and several succeeding years, member of
council for 1799 to 1804, and a long time presiding judge
of the court, afterwards an elder in the church, and always
a leading counsellor. He enjoyed an unblemished repu-
tation, and died in November, 183 1, in the 87th year of
his age, having, in his time, filled as large a space in public
life as any of the prominent men of his day in Somerset
county. He was the father of the late Gov. P. D.
Vroom."* (History of Somerset county. N. J., by Abra-
ham Messier, D. D., page 61.)
* Col. Peter Dumonf' Vroom's mother was Gerretie' Dumont. daughter
of Peter' Dumont by his third wife, Jannetje Veghte, and Col. P. D.*
Vroom's son, Governor Peter Dumont' Vroom, married Ann', daughter cf
Peter J. B.'' Dumont. Authorities, Frelinghuysen and Vroom families;
Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography (New Yorli, 1887), Vol. II,
pages 542-545 ; same. Vol. VI, page 308. The National Cyclopsedia of
8o
" On the south side of the Raritan, near the junction of
the North and South branches, is the former residence of
Col. Peter D. Vroom, and the birthplace of Governor P.
D. Vroom. The old house remains just as it was in early
days, only an addition has been annexed to it. It deserves
to be remembered among the venerated localities of our
beloved country." (History of Somerset county, N. J.,
page 139.)
American Biography, published by James T. White & Co., New York,
1893, Vol. IV, page 248 ; same, Vol. V, page 205. The Political Register
and Congressional Directory, by Ben. Perley Poore (Boston, 1878I. Lan-
man's Dictionary of Congress (Hartford. 1868), also Lanman's "Biograph-
ical Annals of the Civil Government," &c.
Note. — The editor had hoped to include a fairly creditable genealogy of
these two families, but failed to obtain the necessary data.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS.
Col. John Dumont.
[Reprinted verbatim from " Early Indiana Trials and Sketches," by Hon.
O. H. Smith, pp. 131-132, Cincinnati, 1S5S.]
Let me not forget my valued friend Colonel John
Dumont, of Vevay. I became acquainted with the
Colonel in the Legislature of 1822-3, at Corydon. He
was one of the most talented men of the body — always
ready, but modest and retiring to a fault. In personal
contests he had no equal in the house. On one occasion
the question was, " whether we should elect a reviser of
the laws, or revise them ourselves? " In the House, Mr.
Dumont and myself, with others, had opposed a legisla-
tive revision, on the ground that we were not qualified to
revise in session; that the work would be imperfectly done.
Our views ultimately prevailed, and Judge Benjamin
Parke was elected reviser. During the debate Dr. Childs,
of Washington county, in reply to my remarks, insisted
that we were qualified to do the work ourselves. " Mr.
Speaker, the wisdom of the State of Indiana is on this
Note. — Col. John Dumont who was the next to the yonngest son of
Peter Dumont and Mar)' Lowe, his wife, was born in New Brunswick, New
Jersey, January 8th, 1787. He married Miss Julia L. Corey, in August,
1812, and died early in February, 1871. — Ed.
6 [81]
floor." Mr. Dumont — " The gentleman says the wis-
dom of Indiana is on this floor. I can hardly presume
that the wisdom of my country is here, and I should be
very sorry, Mr. Speaker, to think that the wisdom of
Washington county is on this floor." Mr. Dumont was a
good lawyer and an honest man. He was a candidate for
Governor against Col. David Wallace — ran on the branch
of the internal improvement system known as " Classifica-
tion," while Governor Wallace went for the construction
simultaneously of the whole works. Col. Dumont was
clearly right, but the majority went with Gov. Wallace.
The Colonel was the husband of Mrs. Julia L. Dumont, a
ladv of high literary attainments, and the father of Col.
Ebenezer Dumont, of the late Mexican War.
Mrs. Julia L. Dumont.
By Rev. Thomas Eddy.
[Reprinted verbatim from The Vevay Indiana Democrat, March 4, 1876.]
JuHa L. Dumont, the earliest female v^Titer in the West,
whose poems, tales and sketches have been preserved, was
the daughter of Ebenezer and Martha D. Corey. Her
parents emigrated from Rhode Island to Marietta, Ohio,
with the " Ohio Company," which settled at that place.
She was born at Waterford, Washington county, Ohio, on
the Muskingum river, in October, 1794. Her parents
returned to Rhode Island during her infancy, and, while
she was yet a mere babe, her father died. Her mother
removed to Greenfield, Saratoga county. New York, and
83
married the second time. They then had their residence
on the Kayaderosseras Mountain, in Greenfield. With
her mother, I had the pleasure of an acquaintance during
the closing year of her life. From her, doubtless, Mrs.
Dumont inherited her delicate organism and strong emo-
tional nature, her large-heartedness, united with shrink-
ing sensibility. And in that mountain home her soul
learned communion with nature in its noble forms, learned
to love the mountain, with its beetling brow, and the
gentle hyacinth which blossomed at its base.
She spent some time in the Milton Academy, in Sara-
toga county, where she gave unmistakable evidence of
superior mental powers. In 1811, she taught a school in
Greenfield, and, in 1812, in Cambridge, Washington
county. New York. In August of the last-named year.
she was married to John Dumont, and the following Octo-
ber they removed to Ohio.
The village of Vevay, Indiana, is on a beautiful site.
The river has a majestic curve, and the level plateau on the
shore corresponds to its semi-circular sweep, while around
its periphery stands like guardian sentinels a range of noble
hills. There settled a colony of Swiss, designing to en-
gage in the culture of the grape. To this localitv Mr. and
Mrs. Dumont went in 1814, in the gloomv month of
March, and there was her home till death. There was the
struggle incident to a new country. Her husband being a
la\vyer, was, according to the custom of the times, much
from home attending the courts of other counties. The
care of the family was upon her, and she met it noblv.
Schools were scarce and poor. Her own children were to
84
be instructed, and she determined to do the work herself.
She opened a school, and thenceforward much of her life
was spent in the schoolroom. For this she was peculiarly
fitted by her sympathy and keen intuition. Indeed, we
may claim for her a high position among western pioneer
teachers. She had a lofty idea of the mission of the in-
structor, and if she did not attain it, 'twas because she
placed it above what a mind of more than ordinary abili-
ties, tireless effort and a loving heart could reach. She
was successful in imparting what she knew. A dear friend
of hers, who often saw her in the schoolroom, said, " How
faithfully did she obey the command, ' Say to them that
are of faithful heart be strong! ' How zealously did she
labor to confine the feeble! Was there one in her school
particularly unfortunate, that one was immediately taken
especially under her maternal care. She had in her school
several cripple boys, some of whom were poor and friend-
less, and it seemed to me no mother could have surpassed
her endeavor to fit them for usefulness." We claim special
honor for her early and successful devotion to education in
the west.
Her nature was so finely strung that few were capable
of sympathizing with her, either in her sorrows or her re-
joicings. She dwelt in some sense alone, and yet her heart
was full of sympathy. When a grief was pressing upon
her soul, she was surrounded by a promiscuous circle,
capable of interesting and rendering happy those with
whom she mingled. Very bitter were some of the trials
through which she passed, and very severe the discipline
of sufifering which was her lot. She saw three sons wither,
8s
one by one, away to the cold grave. Soon a daughter fol-
lowed them. There was a beautiful boy whom she called
Edgar, and whom she loved intensely. One summer
morning he left her side full of glee; in half an hour he was
drowned; she bore him to her house in her arms. The
blow was terrible. Her soul was a long-continued
struggle. His name she never mentioned; yet, he was
ever in her heart. I said she did not call his name, but a
letter from her daughter says: " Among all her papers was
never found any allusion to his name, nor to this bereave-
ment ; but in a private drawer of hers are to be found sev-
eral small packages marked thus, ' Seed of the flowers he
planted,' ' The shoes he wore,' ' His little fish-hooks.' "
There is scarcely to be found a more touching fact. It
tells the deep, sad grief which preyed upon her soul. Dur-
ing all this struggle she did not " charge God foolishly."
She strove to feel what she believed to be true, that God
was very pitiful and of tender mercy.
There were other trials. She had another son who had^
grown to man's estate, was admitted to the bar, and had
high hopes of eminence in his profession. He was
sprightly and full of force. Well did I know him, often I
spoke with him, united him to his bride in marriage, and
stood by his bedside as he was passing down into the
swellings of Jordan. In the pride of his manhood he was
smitten and wasted to the tomb. Another shrine was
broken.
Mrs. Dumont's health gave way, her constitution,
though elastic, was delicate and she bowed at length.
She went south, among the orange groves and palmettoes
m i ■
she sought to regain her former strength and activity.
It was not to be so. She was marked for death. A year
or nearly so was spent south and then she returned home,
for Vevay was still the home of the living and the resting
place of the dead.
Amid the greetings, the experiences, the questions
asked and answered, her children discovered that she had
come back to them with a distressing cough. It never
left her, but was developed into consumption. It only
needs the old history to tell what remains, so far as the
disease was concerned, the mocking promise of restored
health, then the change. With the indomitable industry
which had ever marked her she would not cease work, but,
in addition to preparing a volume of sketches for the press,
also after her return, superintended her school through
several terms. " She trusted and was not afraid." Trust
ripened into joy, and she whose whole life had been one
weary battlefield at last triumphed. I cannot forbear tran-
scribing one other passage from her daughter's letter to
me, though it was not written for publication: " For many
years she suffered with a nervous restlessness which pre-
vented her sleeping; but the blessed promise, ' He giveth
His beloved sleep ' seemed graven on her heart. Again
and again have I found her with her eyes closed, hands
clasped and voice uttering, as in thanksgiving prayer, ' So
He giveth His beloved sleep.' "
Early in life Mrs. Dumont's mental powers attracted
attention and led many to presage for her a high literary
position. But the cares of her household, her feeble
health and a distrust of her own abilities, prevented her
87
from attempting more than fragmentary essays, tales,
sketches and poems. While her productions were sought
after with avidity by publishers able to pay for them, she
felt so much desire to build up and sustain the local press
and home literature that she more usually would send her
best songs to some new village paper struggling for an
existence, and, with the communication, some words of
cheer to the editor, to give him heart and hope. She was
a frequent contributor to the Literary Gazette, published
at Cincinnati. Several of the best poems she wrote were
first printed in the Gazette, among which are " Poverty,"
" The Pauper to the Rich Man," and the " Orphan Emi-
grant." In the years 1834, '35 and '36 she wrote fre-
quently for the Cincinnati Mirror, but chiefly in prose.
She was awarded three prizes by the publishers of the
Mirror for stories on Western themes. One of these
stories, " Ashton Grey," with others, contributed to the
Western Literary Journal and the Ladies' Repository are
collected in a volume entitled " Life Sketches."
While examining the characteristics of Mrs. Dumont's
style, we are impressed with its purity. She never wrote
a line calculated to lure one from virtue, to gild vice, or
bedeck with flowers the road to death. There is virtue in
all that lives from her pen. Virtue the child of Heaven, the
Note.— A selection of Mrs. Julia L. Dumont's writings, undpr general
title of " Life Sketches from Common Paths." was pubiished bvthe Apple-
tons, New Yorlc, 1856. A brief biographi'-al sketch of Mrs. Dumnnt will
be found in Appleton's Cyciopsedia of American Biography, New York,
1S87, in which place her maiden name erroneously appears as " Carey "
A review of her literary work is contained in " Beginnings of Literary Cul-
ture in Ohio Valley," by Professor W. H. Venable, LL.D. of Cincinnati.—
Editor.
true guide lo success in life, and time title to fragrant
memory. Her teachings addressed to the young, for to
them and for them she mainly wrote, inspire heroic virtue,
a working faith, and conquering zeal. She had ever a
word of hopefulness for the desponding, of encouragement
for the toiling.
Mrs. Dumont died on the second day of January, 1857,
mourned not only by a bereaved family and immediate
neighbors, but by many far distant, to whom kind instruc-
tions had closely endeared her.
Mfs. Julia L. Dumont, as a Teacher.*
By Dr. Edward Eggleston.
We had one teacher who was, so far as natural genius
for teaching goes, the best of all I have ever known. * * *
Mrs. Dumont occupied no mean place as a writer of poetry
and prose tales. Eminent litterateurs of the time, from
Philadelphia and Cincinnati, used to come to Vevay to see
her. * * *
But as a school-mistress, Mrs. Dumont deserves immor-
tahty. She knew nothing of systems, but she went un-
erringly to the goal by pure force of native genius. In all
her early life she taught because she was poor, but after
her husband's increasing property relieved her from neces-
sity, she still taught school from love of it. When she was
past sixty years old, a school-room was built for her along-
* By kind permission of the author and The Century Company ; being
extracts from " Some Western School-masters," in Scribner's Monthly, Vol.
XVII, pages 750-753. March, 1879.
89 i
side her residence, which was one of the best in the town,
it was here that i first knew her, after she iiad already
taught two generations in the place. The " graded "
schools had been newly introduced, and no man was found
who could, either in acquirements or abihty, take preced-
ence of the venerable school-mistress; so the high school
was given to her.
I can see the wonderful old lady now, as she was then,
with her cape pinned awry, rocking her splint-bottom
chair nervously while she talked. Full of all manner of
knowledge, gifted with something very like eloquence in
speech, abounding in affection for her pupils and enthusi-
asm in teaching, she moved us strangely. Being infatu-
ated with her, we became fanatic in our pursuit of knowl-
edge, so that the school hours were not enough, and we
had a " lyceum " in the evening for reading " composi-
tions," and a club for the study of history. If a recitation
became very interesting, the entire school would some-
times be drawn into the discussion of the subject; all other
lessons went to the wall, books of reference were brought
out of her library, hours were consumed, and many a time
the school session was prolonged until darkness forced us
reluctantly to adjourn.
Mrs. Dumont was the ideal of a teacher because she suc-
ceeded in forming character. She gave her pupils un-
stinted praise, not hypocritically, but because she lovingly
saw the best in every one. We worked in the sunshine.
A dull but industrious pupil was praised for diligence, a
bright pupil for ability, a good one for general excellence.
The dullards got more than their share, for knowing how
' 90
easily such an one is disheartened, Mrs. Dumont went out
of her way to praise the first show of success in a slow
scholar. She treated no two alike. She was full of all
sorts of knack and tact, a person of infinite resource for
calling out the human spirit. She could be incredibly
severe when it was needful, and no over-grown boy whose
meaness had once been analyzed by Mrs. Dumont ever
forgot it.
I remember one boy with whom she had taken some
pains. One day he wrote an insulting word about one of
the girls of the school on the door of a deserted house.
Two of us were deputized by the other boys to defend the
girl by complaining of him. Mrs Dumont took her seat
and began to talk to him before the school. The talking
was all there was of it, but I think I never pitied any
human being more than I did that boy as she showed him
his vulgarity and his meanness, and, as at last in the climax
of her indignation, she called him " a miserable hawbuck."
At another time when she had picked a piece of paper
from the floor with a bit of profanity written on it, she
talked about it until the whole school detected the author
by the beads of perspiration on his forehead.
When I had written a composition on " The Human
Mind," based on Combe's Phrenology, and adorned with
quotations from Pope's " Essay on Man," she gave me to
read the old Encyclopedia Britannica containing an article
expounding the Hartleian system of mental philosophy,
and followed this with Locke on the " Conduct of the
Understanding." She was the only teacher I have known
who understood that school studies were entirely second-
91
ary to general reading as a source of culture, and who put
the habit of good reading first in the list of acquirements.
There was a rack for hats and cloaks so arranged as to
cut off a portion of the school from the teacher's sight.
Some of the larger girls who occupied this space took
advantage of their concealed position to do a great deal of
talking and tittering, which did not escape Mrs. Dumont's
watchfulness. But in the extreme corner of the room was
the seat of the excellent Drusilla H , who had never
violated a rule of the school. To reprimand the others,
while excepting her, would have excited jealousy and com-
plaints. The girls who sat in that part of the room were
detained after school and treated to one of Mrs. Dumont's
tender but caustic lectures on the dishonorableness of
secret ill-doing. Drusilla bore .silently her share of the
reproof. But at last the school-mistress said:
Now, my dears, it may be that their is some one among
you not guilty of misconduct. If there is I know I can
trust you to tell me who is not to blame."
" Drusilla never talks," they all said at once, while Dru-
silla, girl like, fell to crying.
But the most remarkable illustration of Mrs. Dumont's
skill in matters of discipline was shown in a case in which
all the boys of the school were involved, and were for a
short time thrown into antagonism to a teacher whose
ascendancy over them had been complete.
We were playing " town-ball " on the common at a long
distance from the schoolroom. Town-ball is one of the
old games from which the more scientific but not half so
amusing "national game" of baseball has since been
0:2 ,^
evolved. In that day the national game was not thought
of. Eastern youth played field base, and western boys
townball in a free and happy way, with soft balls, primitive
bats and no nonsense. There were no scores, but a catch
or crosscut in townball put the whole side out, leaving the
others to take the bat or " paddle " as it was appropriately
called. The very looseness of the game gave opportunity
for many ludicrous mischances and surprising turns which
made it a most joyous play.
Either because the wind was blowing adversely, or be-
cause the play was more than commonly interesting, we
failed to hear the ringing of Mrs. Dumont's handbell at
one o'clock. The afternoon wore on until more than an
hour of schooltime had passed, when some one suddenly
bethought himself. We dropped the game and started
pell-mell, full of consternation, for the schoolroom. We
would at that moment have preferred to face an angry
schoolmaster with his beechen rod than to have ofifended
one whom we reverenced so much. The girls all sat in
their places; the teacher was sitting silent and awful in her
rocking-chair; in the hour and a half no lessons had been
recited. We shufifled into our seats and awaited the
storm. It was the high school, and the boys were mostly
fifteen or sixteen years of age, but the school-mistress had
never a rod in the room. Such weapons are for people of
fewer resources than she. Very quietly she talked to us,
but with great emphasis. She gave no chance for explan-
ation or apology. She was hopelessly hurt and afifronted.
We had humiliated her before the whole town, she said.
She would take away from us the morning and afternoon
i 93
recess for a week. She would demand an explanation
from us to-morrow.
It was not possible that a company of boys could be
kept for half an hour in such a moral sweatbox as that to
which she treated us without growing angry. When
school was dismissed we held a running indignation meet-
ing as we walked toward home. Of course we all spoke
at once. But after a while the more moderate saw that
the teacher had some reason. Nevertheless, one boy was
appointed to draft a written reply that should set forth
our injured feelings. I remember in what perplexity that
committee found himself. With every hour he felt more
and more that the teacher was right and the boys wrong,
and that by the next morning the reviving affection of the
scholars for the beloved and venerated schoolmistress
would cause them to appreciate this. So that the address
which was presented for their signatures did not breathe
much indignation. I can almost recall every word of that
somewhat pompous but very sincere petition. It was
about as I give it here:
" Honored Madam:
In regard to our offense of yesterday we beg that you
will do us the justice to believe that it was not intentional.
We do not ask you to remit the punishment you have in-
flicted in taking away our recess, but we do ask you to
remit the heavier penalty we have incurred, your own dis-
pleasure."
The boys all willingly signed this except one, who was,
perhaps, the only conscious offender in the party. He
94
confessed that he had observed that the sun was " getting
a Httle slanting " while we were at play, but, as his side
" had the paddles," he did not say anything until they were
put out. The unwilling boy wanted more indignation in
the address and he wanted the recess back. But when all
the others had signed he did not dare leave his name off
but put it at the bottom of the list.
With trembling hands we gave the paper to the school-
mistress. How some teachers would have used such a
paper as a means of further humiliation to the offenders!
How few could have used it as she did! The morning
wore on without recess. The lessons were heard as usual.
As the noon hour drew near, Mrs. Dumont rose from her
chair and went into the library. We all felt that some-
thing was going to happen. She came out with a copy of
Shakspeare, which she opened at the fourth scene of the
fourth act of the second part of King Henry IV. Giving
the book to my next neighbor and myself she bade us read
the scene, alternating with the change of speaker. You
remember the famous dialogue in that scene between the
dying king and the prince who has permaturely taken the
crown from the bedside of the sleeping king. It was all
wonderfullv fresh to us and to our school mates, whose
interest was divided between the scene and a curiosity as
to the use the teacher meant to make of it. At length the
reader who took the king's part read:
Heaven put if in thv mind to take it hence.
That thou miphtst win the more thv father's love,
Pleadinu so wisely in excuse of it."
' 95 *
Then she took the book and closed it. The application
was evident to all, but she made us a touching little speech
full of affection, and afterward restored the recess. She
detained the girls when we had gone to read to them the
address, that she might " show them what noble brothers
they had." Without doubt she made overmuch of our
nobleness. But no one knew better than Mrs. Dumont
that the surest way of evoking the best in man or boy, is
to make the most of the earhest symptoms of it. From
\hat hour our schoolmistress had our whole hearts; we
loved her and reverenced her; we were thoughtless
enough, but for the most of us her half-suspected wish was
a supreme law. * * * YLer life always seemed to me
a poem, or something better than a poem. * * *
General Ebenezer Dumont.
[Verbatim extracts from rAe Indianapolis Journal, yionda.y, April 17, 1871.
General Dumont was the son of John and Julia L. Du-
mont, of Vevay, Switzerland county, Indiana, where he
was born November 23, A. D. 1814. He was conse-
quently fifty-six years, four months and twenty-five days
old when he died.* In this brief period his Hfe is em-
braced.
His parents were both remarkable people, as well for
their talents as their acquirements, and have left traces of
themselves in the laws and literature of the State which
will not be forgotten or omitted when its history shall be
* General Ebenezer Dumont's death occurred about 4:00 o'clock A. M.,
April 16, 1871, at his residence south of Indianapolis.
96
adequately written. His father was a good lawyer and an
upright politician and statesman, whose whole public life
will show that the aim of his political conduct was public
utility and welfare, rather than popular applause. In 1837
he was a candidate against Governor Wallace for gover-
nor of the State. The latter was the advocate of the
simultaneous construction of the whole system of internal
improvements adopted in 1836, maintaining its necessity,
expediency and practicability. The former opposed him.
urging that disaster must inevitably follow the policy of
his opponent, and in order to prevent that disaster, the
true policy of the State was to classify the works included
in the system, and having thus settled upon those which
were most immediately necessary to the development of
the State, and which promised, therefore, to be most im-
mediately remunerative, proceed first with their con-
struction; and so on, upon the same principle until all
should be completed. The people, however, were carried
away by the eloquence of Wallace and rage of the hour,
and Mr. Dumont was defeated. No wonder, when such
men as the late Judge Morrison could not close a letter
to a friend without adding a postscript saying: "We all
are for Wallace and the system here." The result of that
election in effect terminated the political career of both;
but in different ways. Mr. Dumont abandoned politics
at once, and gave his attention thereafter entirely to the
law; while Governor Wallace served his term as governor,
was elected one term to congress, and then defeated in
the second race. The failure of the system before the
contest of 1840, had rendered it unsafe for the Whigs to
97
nominate him for re-election as governor. Had Mr. Du-
mont been like most politicians he might have risen, in
1840, with the same platform which caused his defeat in
1837. He made no effort to avail himself of his own
superior sagacity, or the mistakes and blunders of his ad-
versaries. He was the advocate of free schools, and did
more than any Indianian of his time to lay the founda-
tion of a system of free education. His labors are vastly
important in regard to this subject. Nor was Mrs. Du-
mont less conspicuous for her devotion and labors in
furtherance of the same great cause. She was an admirable
teacher, and some of the best practical essays that we have
ever read upon the subject of popular education were from
her pen. Her best title to remembrance as a person of
superior mind rightly directed, is not her services and
merits as a teacher. She was highly endowed with the
sacred gift of genius — genius subordinated and obedient
to all that is highest, grandest and best in the sentiments,
aspirations and love of a noble and true woman's heart.
Her poems, though not numerous, constitute, in our judg-
ment, her best title to literary remembrance. These, we
beHeve, will long survive, for many of them are full of the
undying soul of song. We would not, however, by saying
this, be understood to disparage her prose writing. On
the contrary, many times have caused the most blessed
tears that ever moistened our eyes to flow down our
cheeks while reading in silence some one of her beautiful
" Tales from Common Paths."
Such in brief were the parents of General Dumont. He
inherited, in a large degree, the mental and moral char-
7
98
acteristics of them both, having all the intensity and
energy of genius, linked, however, to other qualities
severely practical. The combination spoiled the poet,
and made the practical business man a consuming fire. It
was not certainly the happiest combination, but could
scarcely fail to be effective in achievement. Such would
be our opinion, judging a priori. A brief survey of Gen-
eral Dumont's life will prove it true.
Accordingly we see him immediately after completing
his own education, as the phrase goes, teaching school for
a livelihood here in Indianapolis for a while. How long
he followed this vocation we have not been informed. He
next reads law, or, indeed, is perhaps engaged in that
while teaching; for to that profession he had been dedi-
cated even from his childhood. He is admitted to the
bar, but exactly when does not appear from any facts in
our possession. He then leaves home, settling in Dear-
born county, for the practice of his profession. Though
a beardless boy, of diminutive size and feeble voice, he
soon began to establish a reputation for industry and
abiUty second to no lawyer in the place. He was ad-
mitted by his seniors to be competent to manage import-
ant cases at an age when most other young lawyers shrink
from embarking in them at all. In 1838 or '39 he tried
politics — was elected a member of the House of Repre-
sentatives in the General Assembly. Here again the boy
was felt as a power. His tact and energy enabled him to
defeat measures which others of more mature years would
have had to succumb to. Next, he was placed, we believe
by executive appointment, in the office of county treas-
99
urer, and in that relation established his reputation as the
honest and faithful custodian of the people's money — a
reputation which has grown with his years and will long
remain the enduring monument of his integrity After
retiring from the office of county treasurer he followed his
profession with great industry, energy and corresponding
success, until the second year of the xMexican War En-
tering the Fourth Regiment of Indiana Volunteers, he
was commissioned Lieut.-Colonel, and in that capacity
went to Mexico where he served with distinction for one
year. He was gone from home in all one year and three
months. He was in the capture of Huamautla, the seige
of Puebla and other engagements, in all which he won the
approbation of his superiors and the confidence of his in-
feriors in the service.
Upon returning from Mexico he resumed the practice
of his profession, and followed it with great success until
i«5i, vvhen he was again elected to the House of Repre-
sentatives. He was chosen speaker for the term, and
served to the entire satisfaction of the House. But he
won his best distinction as a business man and debater
during the session, in which he delivered several able
speeches, which were published, and gave him a State
reputation as a man of ability.
In 1852 -during the long session of the General As-
sembly-he was elected president of the " State Bank of
Indiana, a position of the very highest possible trust and
responsibility. He entered upon the duties of this posi-
tion upon the retirement of Judge Morrison therefrom
and continued to perform them until the bank's charter'
expired in 1858 or '59. In connection with the bank
presidency he was also president of the board of commis-
sioners of the sinkmg fund. In both relations he had
hrmly established himself in the confidence of the public
as a business man of capacity and blameless integrity be-
fore the charter had expired, and, upon the reorganization
of the sinking fund board, during the session of 1859, he
was elected president thereof, and continued in that office
until the commencement of the War of the Rebelhon.
He was among the earliest of the prominent Democrats
of the State to resist the heresy of secession, and the con-
sequent right of a State to make war upon the general
government; and, upon the breaking out of the Rebellion
promptly tendered his services to the governor. He was
sent by His Excellency to Washington to ascertain what
might be ascertained of the objects of the government, and
also of the means which it would be able to employ to sup-
press the Rebellion, and how the State might best be able
to aid therein. Upon his return from this mission he was
appointed Colonel of the 7th regiment of Indiana volun-
teers. At the head of this regiment he served with dis-
tinction during the three months campaign of 1861, in
West Virginia, being prominently engaged in the surprise
of Phillipi, the skirmishes at Laurel Hill, and the battle of
Carrick's Ford. After the campaign he reorganized the
regiment for three years, and, at the head of it, returned
to West Virginia, and while there participated in the
battle of Greenbrier under Gen. Reynolds. Soon after
this engagement he was appointed a Brigadier-General by
the President, and ordered to Louisville. He passed the
lOI
winter of 1861 and 1862 at Bardstown, Bacon Creek and
other points between Louisville and Nashville. His
health was extremely bad, but he clung to his command
and performed its duties for months when he ought to
have been under treatment. He subsequently was placed
in command of Nashville, Tennessee, where his spirit and
earnestness secured the flag more kindly treatment from
his enemies than it would otherwise have received. While
here it was that he organized and led his celebrated pur-
suit of John Morgan, whom he well nigh captured at Leb-
anon. His health, however, finally disqualifying him for
the field, he accepted the nomination for Congress on the
part of the Union or Republican party in 1862, and was in
due time elected a member. He was re-elected in 1864,
and thus served his country faithfully according to his con-
victions of duty for four years, so far as his very feeble
health would permit. His feelings during the Rebellion
were intensely awakened and excited. He had no tolera-
tion for treason or traitors, or for those he conceived to
be in sympathy with such. He was utterly relentless
toward the foes of the old flag.
Since he returned from Congress he has held no public
office until his appointment during the past winter as Gov-
ernor of Idaho; but during each political canvass he has
participated in pubHc speaking for his party with zeal and
ability. He has spent the time not thus employed in the
oversight of his farm and business, until some time during
the winter, when he went to Washington in connection
with his last appointment. While there he was taken
down sick and came near dying. He finally so far recov-
ered, however, that he was able to return home. Upon
doing so he entered upon a course of arranging his busi-
ness with a view to going to Idaho, but before he had com-
pleted it, was taken ill again with fever and general pros-
tration, from which there was really never much hope from
the first that he could recover. Congestion of the lungs
supervened upon the progress of his fever; and he finally
died as we have already stated.* He retained his faculties
to the last, rising from his bed to put on his morning
wrapper a few minutes only before he died. His death
was apparently not painful, and was without a struggle.
No man ever maintained in death the uniform consistency
of character he had borne through life in all its higher and
better traits [more strongly] than he. He was always an
earnest, upright, laborious, systematic man. He loved
and hated in earnest — intensely; but beneath a some-
times harsh and severe exterior he bore as generous and
kind a heart as ever beat in the breast of man. He was no
deceiver. He carried his principles in his hand, alike for
inspection of friend and foe; and with the faults common
*This sketch, as originally published in the Indianatolis Journal, April
17, 1871, was preceded by the following paragraph; "General Ebenezer
Dumont, lately appointed Governor of Idaho, died at his residence, south
of this city, j'esterday morning, a few minutes past four o'clock. The
melancholy event was not unexpected, for his health had been extremely
bad for a long time, and for the last ten days no well grounded hope had
been entertained by his physicians or friends of his recovery. Nevertheless
his known tenacity of purpose, and of life, alike induced them to hope
against hope that he might finally recover, and enter upon the new career
which his appointment seemed to open before him. But that career has
been denied him by a Power in the presence of which all human power is
but weakness, and all human glor>' but as the dust and ashes under our
fm." "'
103
to mortal men, has left a record of noble deeds to his family
and countrj' which will long be cherished by them as a
priceless inheritance.
A meeting of the bar of the city will be held at the
United States Court Room, at two o'clock this afternoon,
to make arrangements to attend the funeral, which will
take place from the First Presbyterian Church, at half-
past two p. M. to-morrow. In the evening a meeting of
the soldiers of the city will be held at the same place, to
take a similar action.
Captain Robert Anderson.
Born in Londonderry, Ireland, in 1751, and coming to
America at the age of nineteen, " to see the new world,"
almost on the eve of the Revolution, Captain Anderson
quickly found opportunity in General Washington's army
to make manifest his bravery and adventurous spirit.
Among his descendants are certain traditions from which
we gather the following items: Previous to his departure
from his native land his mother gave him eight hundred
guineas and a silver-clasped Bible, thus evincing, at once,
the financial and religious standing of his family. He re-
mained in America, served through the Revolutionary
Note. — Brief sketches of the life of General Ebenezer Dumont will be
found in Appletons Cyclopcedia of American Biography (tievf York, 1887), and
in Lanman's " Dictionary of U. S. Congress," etc. (Hartford, 1868), as well
as the latter's " Biog. Annals of the Civil Government." Further mention
is made in a work entitled " Biog. and Hist. Sketches of Early Indiana,"
by W. W. Woollen (Indianapolis, 1883). This last mentioned book also
contains several references to Colonel John Dumont, the father of General
Ebenezer Dumont. — Editor.
I04
War and was at Valley Forge. He visited Ireland twice.
Met with financial reverses in consequence, it is said, of his
signing a man's bail for some thirty thousand dollars,
which he had to pay. He was a handsome man, beautiful
complexion and of a remarkably amiable disposition. His
brother-in-law, Colonel John Dumont, once remarked of
him: " Captain Anderson was a perfect gentleman." He
married Catherine Dumont,* and died at Fort Edward,
New York, in 1816, where he was buried with Masonic
honors. His family removed to Vevay, Indiana.
Hon. W. T. Bland.
William Thomas Bland was born in Weston, Lewis
county, Virginia, now West Virginia, January 21, i86r.
His father, Doctor William J. Bland, was one of the promi-
nent physicians of that State. Doctor Bland was a sur-
geon in the United States army, and, subsequent to his
resignation therefrom, became a member of the Virginia
legislature. He was opposed to the secession of the
Southern States, but, after the war began, became chief
surgeon of William L. Jackson's brigade in the Confeder-
ate army. After the war he was chosen medical superin-
tendent of the West Virginia Hospital for the Insane, at
Weston, West Virginia, an institution which, while he was
a member of the Virginia Assembly, he was instrumental
in having located and constructed. This last-mentioned
position he retained for many years, resigning in the year
|*See'page'6o.''
I05
1892, on account of advanced age. He died in 1897, ^t
the age of eighty-one.
The Bland family, of which the subject of this sketch is
a member, descended from Theodoric Bland, of Virginia,
who was an officer in the Revolutionary army, a close
friend of Washington and one of his trusted officers.
Theodoric Bland was bom in 1742, in Prince George
county, Virginia. Through his grandmother, Jane Rolfe,
he was fourth in descent from Pocahontas. He was one
of a score of gentlemen who took from the palace of Lord
Dunsmore the arms and ammunition which had been ab-
stracted by that nobleman from the public arsenal. Dur-
ing the entire war of the Revolution, with the exception
of one term in the Virginia Senate, he was in military serv-
ice, and, after independence had been acknowledged, he
was elected a member of the General Congress, which then
met at Philadelphia, and continued a member thereof until
1783. He was a member of the Convention of 1783, called
to ratify the Federal Constitution, and voted against its
adoption, but was chosen as the first representative to
Congress under it. He was the author of the " Bland
papers," and left many memorials of the Revolutionary
period. (See American Encyclopedia.)
The Blands are of ancient English origin, the common
ancestor of Sir Richard de Blount, or Blunt. (See book
entitled " Bristol Parish.")
Many of the Virginia Blands are buried at Blandford
Church, near Petersburg, about which ancient edifice a
beautiful poem was written.
Hon. Richard P. Bland, member of Congress from Mis-
io6
souri, and Judge C. C. Bland, of the St. Louis Court of
Appeals, are descendants of the Virginia Bland family.
The mother of the subject of this sketch was Columbia
Madison Bland, formerly Jackson. She was born at
Clarksburg, Virginia (now West Virginia), September 22,
1823. Her father was Judge John G. Jackson, who was
born about 1774, at Clarksburg, Virginia, and died about
1825. He succeeded his father. Judge George Jackson, in
Congress, and while a member thereof, married Mary
Payne, a sister of the accomplished wife of President Mad-
ison— Dollie ]\Iadison. The marriage was the first to occur
in the White House. His second wife was Sophia Meigs,
the only daughter of R. J. Meigs, Governor of Ohio and
afterwards postmaster-general. Of that marriage several
children were born, including the mother of the subject of
this sketch. Judge Jackson was appointed the first Fed-
eral Judge for the Western District of Virginia, and this
office he filled with distinction until his death. He was a
learned lawyer, a man of indomitable energy and of great
enterprise. (See Life of Stonewall Jackson, by R. I>.
Dabney.)
Judge Jackson's brother, Edward, was the grandfather
of General Stonewall Jackson. Ex-Governor J. B. Jackson,
of West Virginia, Judge John J. Jackson, of the United
States District Court of the District of West Virginia, who
was appointed by President Lincoln, and Judge Monroe
Jackson, of the State Circuit Court at Parkesburg, Wood
county. West Virginia, are grandsons of Judge John G.
Jackson. The Jackson family descended from John Jack-
son, of Scotch-Irish origin, whose family moved from the
I07
north of Ireland to London. He emigrated from London
in 1748, first settling in Calvert county, Maryland, and
there married Elizabeth Cummings, also from London.
They afterwards settled in the western portion of Virginia
(now West Virginia) and founded the Jackson family,
which has long been one of the prominent families of the
State, its members having occupied many positions of
honor and trust.
William Thomas Bland graduated at the University of
West Virginia in 1883, and afterwards studied law at the
University of Virginia and the University of West Vir-
ginia, and, after graduating in law, practiced for three
years in his native State, removing to Atchison, Kansas,
in December, 1887, and there engaged in the practice of
his profession. In 1889 he was elected county attorney
of Atchison county, Kansas, refusing a nomination for a
second term. In 1893 he was elected Mayor of the City
of Atchison, and, in 1897, was elected Judge of the Second
Judicial Dictrict of Kansas. The county of Atchison, as
well as the city, is largely Republican, and each time Judge
Bland was elected upon the Democratic ticket.
In August, 1891, he married Bertha H., daughter 01
W. C. and Kate Avis McPike, and of that marriage one
child, William McPike Bland, was born, November 2:7,
1894.
io8
Hon. A. C. Ellis.
Alexander Campbell Ellis was bom in Kenton county,
Ky., in 1832. His father was William Grimsley Ellis, born
in Fauquier county, Virginia, and his mother was Susan G
Arnold, whose ancestors came to Kentucky from the sam<
old home in Virginia. The Ellises are of English descent
and the Arnolds of Scotch-Irish. Campbell Ellis was
reared on a farm in Kenton county where his father was
the owner of one of the largest estates in Northern Ken-
tucky. He was educated in the common schools and
studied law in Covington. Was a deputy clerk of the
Circuit Court and one of the first Democrats elected to
office in Kenton county after the war. Was, for two
terms, clerk of the courts and recorder of the county, and
subsequently entered upon the active practice of the law,
in which he is still engaged. He has been prominent at
the bar, frequently serving as special judge of the Circuit
Court, and for many years was one of the leaders in Demo-
cratic politics. Was married in 1859 to Kate Blackburn
Hereford, widow of Blair P. Hereford and daughter of
Christopher Blackburn and Jeanetta Smith, his wife. Mr.
and Mrs. Ellis have four children living — Hon. Wade H.
Ellis, of Cincinnati; Dr. Samuel B. Ellis, of Dayton, Ohio:
Chatten Ellis, of Covington, Ky., and Mrs. U. S. Rotzong,
of Kansas City, Mo. Mrs. Ellis has three daughters by
her first husband, viz.: Eudora Hereford, of Covington,
Ky.; Mrs. J. W. Peebles, of Milldale, Ky., and Mrs. J. W.
Meiers, of Kansas City, Mo.
109
Hon. Wade H. Ellis.
Wade H. Ellis, son of Alexander Campbell Ellis and
Kate Blackburn Ellis, was born in Covington, Ky., Decem-
ber 31, 1864. Attended the district and high schools hi
Covington and Cincinnati, and Chickering Institute iu
Cincinnati. Engaged in newspaper work as a young man,
and, at the age of twenty, was city editor of the Cincin-
nati Daily Sun. Later went to the Law School of the
Washington and Lee University, at Lexington, Virginia,
studying under the late John Randolph Tucker, and grad-
uated with the honors of his class in 1889. At Washing-
ton and Lee University received the Debater's medal and
the" law scholarship. Located in South Dakota, and, in
1892, was nominated by his party for Attorney-General
of the State, but withdrew to form a partnership for the
practice of the law in Kansas City. Returned to Coving-
ton in 1893 and formed a partnership with Ellis G. Kin-
kead for the practice of law in Cincinnati. Became man-
aging editor of the Cincinnati Tribune in 1894, and subse-
quently editor of the Commercial Tribune, by the consoli-
dation of the Cincinnati Tribune and the Cincinnati Com-
mercial Gazette, continuing during this period of news-
paper management his law partnership and practice. In
April, 1897, Mr. Ellis' law partner, Mr. Kinkead, was
elected corporation counsel, or city solicitor, of the city of
Cincinnati, and Mr. Ellis was appointed first assistant cor-
poration counsel, a position which he now holds. Was
married in 1894 to Dessie Corwin Chase, of Covington.
Ky., daughter of-Francis M. Chase and Mary D. Ficklin.
, Captain Moses Guest.^ s . .
Captain Moses Guest was born in New Brunswick, New
Jersey, November 7th, 1755. Of his paternal ancestry we
have already written.* He took an active part in the War
of the American Revolution, first as an ensign in Captain
Voorhees' Company, Third Middlesex Regiment, and sub-
sequently as a Captain in Second Middlesex Regiment. t
Later he became a mariner, and in his " Journal " he re-
cites many interesting incidents of his travels and sea-far-
ing life. He possessed a great measure of ingenuity. On
one of his voyages the supply of drinking water became
exhausted, and Capt. Guest, in a little while, improvised a
still for rendering salt water fresh, thus probably saving
the lives of all involved, including his own.§ Quitting
the sea, he appears to have settled in his native town and
taken an interest in, or the management of, his father's
tannery, for we find him going to Canada to dispose of
some hides. His narrative of these trips furnishes charm-
ing, contemporaneous pictures of the difificulties then in-
volved in going comparatively short distances. June 28,
1792, he married Lydia Dumont, daug'hter of Peter Du-
mont, the ceremony being performed by the Rev. Walter
Monteath. His father having died, and " The West "
presenting its attractions. Captain Guest removed, in Sep-
tember, 1817, to Cincinnati, where he lived until his de-
cease which occurred March 22, 1828. He and his wife,
*See pages 20 and 40.
t See foot-note on page 40.
§ See Guest's "Poems and Journal," second edition (Cincinnati, 1824),
page 106.
Ill
who died in Cincinnati, October 29, 1822, were buried in
what was then the cemetery, now Washington Park, near
the northwest corner of Race and Twelfth streets. Cap-
tain Guest's place in the history of otir country is most
prominently marked by his capture of Lieutenant-Colonel
Simcoe, commander of the Queen's Rangers,* but he,
like many of his brave and patriotic contemporaries, did
much service for America, the details of which have long
since passed into oblivion. Even his " Poems " breathe
forth a spirit of freedom. He appears to have had a keen
sense of the ridiculous as well as the pathetic and grand;
nor did he lack the enviable power of looking at life philo-
sophically. His portrait, in the possession of his grand-
son, the Rev. Andrew J. Reynolds, presents to our view
" one of nature's noblemen." It is the preservation of the
memory of such as him which should incite us to noble
deeds and contribute to our happiness, even though we
occupy an humble sphere.
Hon. John L. Keteham.f
The announcement, this morning, that the injuries re-
ceived by the Hon. John L. Ketcham, in the fall at the
store of Alford, Talbott & Co., yesterday afternoon, has
proven fatal, has thrown a saddening gloom over the city.
So sudden has been the removal from the activity of life
to the stillness of death, that it seems hard to fully realize
* See page 9.
t Reprinted from the Indianapolis, Indiana, Evening Mirror, of April
21, 1869.
the painful truth. From the full vigor of a life unusually
earnest and active he has been taken by one of those ter-
rible decrees of accident that are ever reminding man that
his existence is brief and uncertain in its termination.
John L. Ketcham was born April 3rd, 1810, in Shelby
county, Kentucky. His father. Colonel John Ketcham,
removed to Indiana when he was an infant, but on account
of Indian troubles was compelled to return to Kentucky.*
A few years later he again came to Indiana and settled in
Monroe county near Bloomington. Colonel Ketcham
was a man of strong character, with marked energy and
resolute purpose. An early advocate of the free-soil
movement, he continued in that party throughout all its
obloquy and feebleness. His wife was a woman equally
marked. She had a quick perception into the right, and
was ever ready to sacrifice it. Her controlling spring
seemed to be duty, and she never let pleasure lead her
from it.
From such parentage John L. Ketcham came, and well
represented in his life the familiar characteristics of each,
more especially being the counterpart of his mother. Col-
onel Ketcham died two years since. His wife still sur-
vives. Mr. Ketcham was educated in the University of
Bloomington, under Dr. Wiley, to whom he was much
attached. He was graduated in the regular course when
quite young. In 1833 he came to Indianapolis and began
*To avoid misapprehension, it should be added that although Colonel
Ketcham did take his family back into Kentucky, he, himself, returned
to Indiana to perform his part and duty in renderinjr it safe and habitable,
after which he brought his family back also, as stated above.
JI3
the study of law under Judge Blackford. Soon after ad-
mission to the bar iie was elected Justice of the Peace, and
held the ottice one term. This was the only office he was
ever a candidate for, his subsequent Ufe being devoted
strictly to his pi'ofession. in 1836 he married Jane, the
eldest daughter of Samuel Merrill, Esq. He leaves his
wife and a family of eight.
In his profession he associated in partnership from time
to time with Napoleon B. Taylor, Lucian Barbour, D. VV.
Coffin and James L. Mitchell, his present partner.
Such, in brief, is the history of one who yesterday, in the
fullest vigor, was with us. There is, perhaps, no man in
the city whose leading traits of character are more marked.
For thirty-six years he was a citizen of Indianapolis, for the
last twenty of which he has Hved in the home he has been
so sadly called from. It is a delicate thing to try to por-
tray a character so well known. It lives so in the memory
of all that it is a part of the history of the place. But we
can but say briefly a httle of that that comes quickest to
the hearts that are so suddenly called to grieve over a loss
so irreparable.
The hospitality of Mr. Ketcham is well known. It was
a part of the duty of life that he never forgot, but made it
most pleasant to all who entered his family circle. The
nobleness of the man, indeed, was quickest seen in his
home. An exceeding tenderness marked his whole inter-
course with his family and family friends. Regularity of
life was a part of his faith. An untiring worker, he never
allowed one duty to overshadow another. His idea of life
was to fulfill every duty as it came. The boundaries of
114
du^y were never crossed. All his life a Christian, he let
his Christianity follow him wherever he went. It is said
by those nearest him, that in all his long residence in the
city, he never missed a religious meeting of the church to
which he belonged, if in the city or not unwell. A ready
speaker at all times, he seemed especially gifted in the
prayer meeting, always having something to add which
was of value. The main-spring of his life was Christian
duty. The influence he silently exerted in the regular
observance of his daily devotions is past all expression.
Those hving near him have often spoken with the deepest
feeling of the laborers, when passing his house in the
morning, stopping to catch the hymns of praise that were
the ushering in of the day to him and his family.
Strong in his friendship, he never forgot a friend or
failed him when needed. During the war his sympathetic
patriotism was most marked. Two of his sons were in
the army, and every battle was watched and prayed over
as if they were there. A man of unostentatious benevo-
lence, he literally did not let his right hand know what his
left did. Many instances of his substantial kindness are
now known, that before were buried in the hearts of giver
and receiver.
Mr. Ketcham was one of thirteen who left the Old
School Church on the division, and founded the Second
Presbyterian Church. Mr. Beecher, the first pastor of
Note. — Mrs. Jane Merrill Ketcham is now (April, i8g3) residing in or
near the city of Indianapolis, Indiana, and one of her sons, J. L. Ketchan),
Esq., is a mennber of firm known as Brown-Ketcham Iron Works, of the
same place.
"5
that church, was accustomed to rely upon him as confi-
dently as he could upon himself. When the Second
Church became too full for usefulness, Mr. Ketcham was
one of the handful of brave men who founded the Fourth
Church. He gave of his time and means without stint to
bring that church to its present standing. An elder in the
Second Church, he was soon made an elder in the Fourth,
in which position he worked faithfully to the last.
John L. Ketcham died with his armor on. Working
nobly for God and man, he was ready at the call. No
preparation time was wanted. He stepped from life here
to the Life beyond. Vain are our words to say to his
family that he has done his work. Vainly can we tender
sympathy — vainly speak to the crushed hearts. It is the
work of the God he gave his life-service to, and humbly we
look to Him for comfort for them.
" Enoch walked with God and was not, for God took him,"
Hon. Robert N. Lamb.
Judge Robert N. Lamb is strictly an Indiana product.
His father, Solomon Lamb, was one of the famous expedi-
tion down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers in the early
years of this century, led by Aaron Burr, and which col-
lapsed at Vicksburg in 1806 on account of the arrest of its
leader on the charge of treason. After the failure of the
enterprise, the exact purpose of which was never certainly
known, the members scattered, some returning north,
while others remained in the west and south.
Mr. Lamb, after drifting further south, returned north
ii6
as far as Kentucky, where for a short time he taught
school, and where also he married Elizabeth Shepherd.
About the year 1812 he settled on a tract of land in
Perry county, containing a hundred acres, a part of which
subsequently became a part of the town of Rome. Here
Robert was born November 23, 1824.
As might be readily inferred from the adventurous and
roving character of his early life, the elder Lamb did not
readily take to the hard work and drudgery of farm life.
He did not have to. His education was much above the
average of the neighborhood, and he soon became some-
thing of an oracle among the pioneers. His library was
extensive for the times, and well used, and he was ready
to turn his hand to almost anything except plowing and
wood chopping. He was the surveyor, when surveying
was to be done, and the school teacher at times. His
personal popularity was shown by his being elected clerk
of the court as early as 1816, and serving twenty-one con-
secutive years in the office; his son William succeeding
him two terms of seven years each. Living near the
town, his house was seldom without a visitor in the person
of some poor lawyer or judge, or less distinguished person,
and often many at a time.
This birdseye view of the elder Lamb shows that Robert
had many advantages in childhood for development which
did not fall to the average boy of that period. He was
early put to farm work, and he did the work of a man in
some departments when quite young. He attended
school, sometimes taught by his father, but more fre-
quently by persons less qualified, but all did not amount
117
to much more than to create a thirst for a better educa-
tion than the schools of that county afiforded at that time;
accordingly we find him entering- Hanover College when
about eighteen years of age to take up the common
branches of an education. But he was not permitted to
pursue his collegiate course unmolested. What funds he
had were borrowed, and, on returning home at vacation,
he was not able to obtain the necessary funds to continue
his studies, and was offered and accepted a position as
deputy in the clerk's office, where he continued for some
time, and was then employed by his brother as cook, oars-
man and super-cargo on a flat-boat loaded with hogs and
other farm products for the coasting trade down the river.
^ In the spring of 1844 he again started to college; this
time it was to Asbury (now De Pauw) University. Here
he entered upon his course with great earnestness; but
again on borrowed money. As a matter of economy he
took boarding at a farm house two miles in the country
at $1.25 per week. But this proving too expensive for his
hmited means, he went to " batching " in a dingy room,
at a cost of seventy-five cents per week.
The students at that institution had not yet been regu-
larly classified, but each one took up studies according to
his former attainments, which, in some departments, put
him ahead, and in others behind the averaee classes. So
intent was he on catching up with others in the studies in
which he was deficient that he not onlv devoted extra
hours to study, but he spent the vacation in work upon his
Latin, paymg the professor who heard him recite privately
by hoeing in the garden.
ii8
He went home during the summer vacation of 1845 ^"1^7
expecting to return. But he was confronted by a tempt-
ing offer to relinquish his college course and go into busi-
ness at once. Aurelius Dumont, a brilliant young lawyer
of Vevay, had been elected Auditor of Switzerland county.
He had made the acquaintance of young Lamb at Han-
over College two or three years before, while himself a
student, and he saw in him possibilities which he might
use to advantage; hence he wrote to him tempting him to
abandon his educational plans, by offering him $35 per
year and boarding, for two years, to take charge of the
Auditor's office, offering at the same time the use of his
law library for studying law.
This was too flattering an offer for an impecunious
youth, already in debt nearly two hundred dollars. He
accepted the offer and entered the office as deputy, and as
law student also.
Two years later, September 22, 1847, he married Mari-
etta Dumont, the sister of his employer and daughter of
Hon. John and Julia L. Dumont.
At the August election of 1848 he was elected prose-
cuting attorney of Switzerland county, while yet engaged
in the auditor's office, having been admitted to the prac-
tice of law. He was not yet twenty-four years old.
Mr. Dumont, who had formed a law partnership with
young Lamb while yet his deputy in the Auditor's office,
dying in the fall of 1849, young Lamb was appointed
Auditor to fill out the unexpired time of his term of office.
At the August election of 1850 he was elected Auditor
for five years. At the October election of 1855 he was
119
again elected Auditor, this time, under the new constitu-
tion, for four years, making, in all, ten years Auditor and
four years as deputy. All this time he kept open his law
ofifice and did business in the courts as attorney.
After the close of his official term he continued in the
practice of law until June, 1861, when he was appointed by
President Lincoln an Assistant Quartermaster in the
army. The business and exposure of this office preyed
upon his health and he resigned in September, 1862.
Meanwhile the Republicans of Switzerland and Ohio
counties had elected him to represent their counties in the
House of Representatives in the Indiana Legislature.
At the October election of 1864, he was elected Judge
of the Court of Common Pleas in the district composed of
Ohio, Switzerland, Jefferson, Ripley and Dearborn
counties.
Soon after this election he moved to Moore's Hill in
Dearborn county for the educational advantages of that
town. A vacancy occurring in the office of Circuit Judge
in the circuit composed of Dearborn, Ohio, Franklin and
Union, he was appointed by Governor Baker, in February,
1869, to fill the office until the ensuing election in Octo-
ber. 1870.
At the close of this service, early in November, 1870, he
moved to Indianapolis, and with Jonathan W. Gordon and
Thomas M. Browne, formed the law firm of Gordon,
Browne & Lamb, and at once proved himself deserving
a front rank in the profession. He has continued in the
practice of law in Indianapolis ever since.
His long practice in the details of the Auditor's office
has suggested to the courts his eminent fitness for manag-
ing large estates, hence he has frequently served in that
capacity, settHng the affairs of the First National Bank,
The Harrison Bank and the Central Bank.
In politics, Judge Lamb was a Whig in the days of that
party. When the Republican party was organized he be-
came a Republican. His standing in that party was seen
in 1868 when he was nominated as its candidate for Con-
gress by a convention before which the late Hon. William
M'Kee Dunn and Henry R. Pritchard, now of this city,
competed with him for the nomination. The district had
been so gerrymandered by the preceding legislature as to
be made reliably Democratic, which it has remained ever
since. Judge Lamb made a joint canvass of the entire dis-
trict with his competitor, Hon. William S. Holman, filling
on an average six appointments in each of the eight coun-
ties composing the district, and, as the result, the majority
of Mr. Holman was cut down to between 700 and 800, a
point much below what it ever was afterwards. It was
conceded on all hands that he conducted his part of the
canvass with great ability and with such fairness as to com-
mand the respect of his political opponents.
His first wife dying May 14, 1876, he was married to
Catharine E. Voris May 28th, 1878.
Note. — The foregoing sketch of Judge Lamb was written by the Rev.
S. A. Goodwin, four or five years ago, for an Indianapolis paper. For a
copy, the Editor is indebted to Judge Lamb's daughter, Mrs. E. S. L.
Thompson, an accomplished authoress and^ecturess. residing in Muncie,
Indiana.
121
Hon. Henry Guest M'Pike.*
Born in Lawrenceburg, Dearborn county, Indiana,
within four miles of the residence of General William
Henry Harrison, the hero of Tippecanoe, the writer'::
father was an early observer of those sectional feelings
which are most quickly manifested in a place situated as
was his native town in the days before the Mexican War.
His father, John M'Pike, had been, as we state else-
where, the editor of a Whig newspaper and an early advo-
cate for the abolition of slavery.
From his grandparents, Captain James M'Pike and
Capt. Moses Guest, as well as from his great-grandfather,
Peter Dumont, he inherited that patriotic fervor and love
of freedom which had always incited their lives. Descend-
ing from so many families who, in generations and cen-
turies past, had taken their stand for liberty in its highest
sense, it is natural that we find in him a public-spirited
man whose active business life and fixed determination
have been large elements in his success.
Removing, at an early age, to Wilmington. Dearborn
county, Indiana, he there numbered among his youthful
associates the late James Mills, Esq. (whose sister Sarahf
married the late Hon. John M.Wilson) and the late Joseph
Bruce, Esq., of Memphis, Tennessee. Their mutual friend-
ship was formed during a period when public events were
fast leading up to a climax. Many are the interesting anec-
"•See, also, "History of Madison County, Illinois" (Edwardsville. 111.,
1882), and the Alton, Illinois, daily newspapers, for the last half century,
t Mrs.'John M. Wilson and daughter now (March, 1898) reside in College
Hill, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio.
122
dotes and exciting incidents which we have been privil-
eged to hear related. Dearborn county, it will be ob-
served, was on the immediate border between the north
and south. Fugitive slaves were a frequent sight and the
Underground Railroad was in full operation. Hand-bills
ofifering large rewards for the recovery of slaves were com-
monly to be seen, and the town of Wilmington (then) was
not wholly devoid of a certain transient or irresponsible
element, composed of those who were ever ready to derive
personal profit at the expense of some unfortunate crea-
ture. But the seriousness of life was occasionally relieved
by some episode of an amusing character. His boyhood
friends, then popularly known as " Jim " Mills and " Joe "
Bruce, together with himself, conceived the idea of playing
a practical joke, and this, in short, was " the way of it," as
nearly as we can now recall the tale:
They repaired to the printing office of the writer's
grandfather, John M'Pike, where it was but a few minutes'
work to set up and run ofif a number of hand-bills, headed
somewhat as follows:
$1,000.00 REWARD
for the recovery of
TWO RUNAWAY NEGRO GIRLS;
describing minutely the height and size of each, as well as
the costumes in which they were last seen. They took
the precaution, of course, to append a name and address
which could not easily be discovered as fictitious. These
123
were quickly but quietly distributed during the night.
The next performance was for two of the jokers to blacken
their faces and don gowns and headgear fitting the de-
scriptions in the hand-bills. Going out carefully through
alleyways, showing themselves a moment at two or three
prominent corners, dodging and running, they soon con-
tributed to the excitement which was already high. They
were then under the necessity of getting back to the house
without attracting attention, washing their faces and doflf-
ing their unique apparel for regular clothes. In all this
they were fortunately successful. In the meantime a
crowd had gathered and was rapidly growing. Much dis-
cussion as to how to find the fugitives resulted. Factions
arose. Some were positive that the negroes had taken a
northwesterly direction: others were just as certain thai
they had gone due west. The jokers had by this time
gotten down onto the streets again and added to their
own fun by talking as loudly and excitedly as any one, urg-
ing on the crowd. " Jim " Mills (as had been pre-
arranged) was on horseback, and at the opportune
moment, with a " Come on boys," started at a rapid rate
out into the country, across fields, etc. It is impossible
to relate here the details of the " search," the many false
alarms and the ludicrous situations which frequently
occurred. The sight of an old cow near a stump, some
distance away, would be sufficient to cause a detachment
to sally in that direction, and other as nonsensical " finds "
were made. Suffice it to say, the TWO RUNAWAY
NEGRO GIRLS were not discovered and the dis-
appointed crowd returned about daylight. The
124
worst of it was that the joke had assumed such unex-
pected proportions that those who were responsible for it
had to have their fun very quietly to themselves. To have
made it generally known that they were the instigators of
it would have resulted in severe treatment being visited
upon them, such was the tension of the times.
The mention of the late James Mills, Esq., in connection
with the foregoing incident brings to mind the fact that
that estimable gentleman's life was once saved by the
writer's uncle, George D. M'Pike, though the precise de-
tails of the occurrence are not now accessible.
While a young man, the writer's father was nominated
by the Hon. O. H. Smith, of Indiana (then in Congress),
for appointment as cadet at West Point, but it being sub-
sequently discovered that another district was entitled to
that privilege, the nomination was withdrawn. Its con-
firmation would, doubtless, have changed the course of
the prospective cadet's entire life.
Removing to Alton, Illinois, in December, 1847, he
settled in that city and has there resided for more than fifty
years, most of that time at Mount Lookout Park.
Appointed to act as deputy provost marshal of the
(then) twelfth Congressional district at a critical time, he
did good service for the war department and resigned his
office April 24th, 1865.
In November, i8fio, he, in company with the late Hon.
Lyman Trumbull, went from Alton to Springfield and they
were in the telegraph office with Mr. Lincoln as the re-
turns came in from the first election. As the outcome began
"5
to hinge upon New York State, the excitement on the
part of all was high with the exception of Mr. Lincoln,
who maintained an apparent calm, and he it was who
seemed least affected by the final announcement of the
result. Such a scene can only be described by an eye-
witness. We shall not attempt it.
Early in the " sixties " the writer's father, in a private
capacity but nevertheless in a line of patriotic duty, ac-
companied a military organization known as the Yagers,
from Alton to Springfield, Illinois, where he met Governor
Yates and Captain U. S. Grant. Soon after came the news
of the latter's promotion by the former.
Alton was not behind in affording the Federal govern-
ment moral and financial support. A branch of the
" Union League of America," known as " AUon Council
No. 41," was granted a charter by the State League, Feb-
ruary 9th, 1863. As the original charter is in the posses-
sion of the writer's father (March, 1898) it is possible that
he acted as secretary of the local organization, of which he
was a charter member.
After the war came the efforts to resume a normal com-
mercial life. The local gazetteer or directory (1866)
shows us the firm of McPike & Newman, real estate
agents. The former was and has since been a notary
public, and, for many years, was agent of several of the
" old line " fire insurance companies, as well as secretary
of two State corporations, the Illinois Mutual and Pacific
Mutual Insurance Companies, engaged in fire underwrit-
ing. The Illinois Mutual was among the oldest com-
panies of its kind in the west and had established a high
126
reputation for conservative management, liberal dividends
to its policy-holders, and fair dealing generally. When it
ceased business nearly all others of its class withdrew also,
so that to-day the number of old mutual hre insurance
companies, organized in the west, is limited.
In February, 1882, he attended the River and Harbor
Convention which met in Washington, D. C, and num-
bered several hundred delegates from all sections of the
country. In this convention the writer's father was the
vice-president from Illinois. He had, also, been connected
with previous conventions held in the city ot St. Louis,
Mo., Memphis, Peoria and New OrleEns.
After his return to Alton he communicated with the
Hon. John A. Logan, then United States Senator, and re-
ceived from him the following reply:
United States Senate,
Washington, D. C, July 10, '82.
My Dear Mr. McPike:
I am in receipt of your favor of 5th inst. In answer I
would say that I succeeded in getting $35,000 set apart for
the Alton harbor. This is the best I could do. I hope
with this and the general appropriation for the river, you
will be able to continue the improvements necessary. We
have had a very hard contest over the River and Harbor
bill. The demands from all over the country for appropri-
ations of this character have been so great that it has been
almost impossible to secure anything special. I am sorry
not to be able to do more for you. We will probably dis-
pose of the River and Harbor bill to-morrow in the Senate,
127
and it will be finally disposed of within a week. I shall be
pleased to hear from you often. Sincerely, your friend,
John A. Logan.
A copy of the above letter was printed in the Alton
Weekly Telegraph, July 13, 1882.
The subject of our sketch was elected mayor of the city
of Alton, Illinois, in the spring of 1887, and, at the expira-
tion of his term, became his own successor for another —
occupying that office four years in all.
During the terrific floods of the Mississippi river, doing
great damage to the low lands in Missouri just opposite
Alton — the waters of the two rivers intermingling — the
writer's father was made chairman of the relief committee,
and, as such, had frequent conferences with (then) Gov-
ernors Fifer and Francis, of Illinois and Missouri, re-
spectively. This was the year 1892.
His interest in horticulture has always been great, and
in the development of the grape he has met with remark-
able success. The mammoth " M'Pike grape " has cap-
tured the first prize in many exhibitions. Its public
reception cannot, perhaps, be more briefly described than
by the following quotation from the Chicago Daily News,
November 3, 1897, at which time the Chicago Horse Show
and Horticultural Exhibition was being held in that city;
" H. G. M'Pike, ex-mayor of Alton, 111., came to the
arena at 11 o'clock with enough blue ribbons on his lapel
to stock an ordinary show. The horsemen crowded
around him and learned that Mr. McPike cared not for
hackney or hunter, that he had taken the blue ribbons for
128
the best exhibit of grapes in the agricultural end of the
show. * * * ]\/[i-. McPike winning out on a black
grape as large as a tennis ball."
This beautiful grape is a seedHng of the Worden, having,
therefore, the Concord for its grandparent. It is being
propagated by the Silas Wilson Company, Atlantic, Iowa.
We will close this sketch with the following quotation
from an Alton newspaper, September, 1897:
" Hon. H. G. McPike, of this city, returned last evening
from Columbus, Ohio, where he was in attendance upon
the annual meeting of the National Pomological Society,
where he had on exhibition his celebrated McPike grape,
and also at the State fair. The Commissioner of Agricul-
ture was present from Washington and the meeting was
one of the largest ever held. Mr. McPike to-day, in
speaking of his trip, said there was a large attendance of
professors and the oldest and best informed pomologists of
the country, representing every State in the Union. They
were welcomed by Governor Bushnell. His own election
as vice-president he considers a compliment to this State
and the Alton Horticultural Society, although others will
be inclined to include the individual whose abihty to im-
press men at a gathering of this kind is well understood."
Note. — For the briefness of the foregoing, the editor's excuse is the
intiination of a hope that his father may ultimately be induced to prepare
for publication some reminiscences or recollections of those prominent
personages and important public events with which he has been associated.
129
Judge John M'Pike.
John M'Pike, a son of Captain James M'Pike, was bom,
probably in Virginia, about 1793-4- Was about one year
old when his father removed to the vicinity of Maysville,
Kentucky, about 1795. His father made several " land
trades," exchanging " claims." When about the age of
fifteen, John M'Pike went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and was
employed in the printing office of Looker & Reynolds.
The junior member of this latter firm, Mr. Sacket Rey-
nolds, married a daughter of Captain Moses Guest. The
subject of this sketch subsequently removed to Lawrence-
burg, Dearborn county, Indiana. Was a member of the
committee for the public reception of General Lafayette at
Cincinnati, acting in that capacity, probably, as a delegate
from Lawrenceburg.* He was commissioned lieutenant.
Light Infantry, in the Fifty-fifth Regiment of the militia
of the State of Indiana, by Governor James B. Ray, July
24th, 1826; the original commission being now in the
possession of the writer's father. The " hidiana Specta-
tor " (Lawrenceburg) for April 2nd, 1825, contains notice,
dated January 31, 1825, of " Dissolution of Partnership '"
in the printing business, between George H. Dunn and
John M'Pike. The latter became the editor of " The In-
diana Whig," a weekly newspaper published at Lawrence-
burg, the first number of which appeared April 18, 1834.
How long this was continued under the same management
*At the writer's request, Prof. W. H. Venable, of Cincinnati, very- kindly
had a careful search mode through old files of Cincinn^ili newspapers for a
list of names of members of " Lafayet'e Committee," but in vain. His
able work, "Beginnings of Literary Culture in the Oliio,Va!ley," contains
several items pertaining to that reception.
9
130
is not definitely known, but Vol. I, No. 35, Jan'y 25, 1844,
was " Published by Benjamin B. Root." John M'Pike was
an Associate Judge of Dearborn county, Indiana, from
1830 to 1835, and was elected Probate Judge in 1837.*
He removed to Wilmington, Indiana, and subsequently
went (with all his family except one son, Edmund Haley)
to New Orleans, intending to settle in Texas, with the
hope of finding there a good business opening. This was
on the eve of the Mexican War and he found it necessary
to return north, which he did, going to Golconda and St.
Louis, and finally to Greenville, Illinois. There he pub-
lished and edited " The Nezv Era," a weekly. The writer
has seen Vol. I, No. 2, October 16, 1847, showing at the
head of the editorial column the name of Zachary Taylor
as candidate for the presidency. This, it is said, was the
first announcement (in Illinois, at least) of General Tay-
lor's name for that office. " The New Era " contained
several letters, signed " E. H.," giving items relating to
the Mexican War. These letters were from the son, Ed-
mund Haley M'Pike, above mentioned. This newspaper
was not long lived. The last number (No. 9) appeared
December 13, 1847; the printing office was sold and John
M'Pike removed to Alton, Madison county, Illinois, where,
in January, 1848, we find him publishing " The Monitor."
He was appointed a notary public " in and for the city of
Alton," December 7th, 1 861, by Richard Yates, Governor
of the State of Illinois — and he is shown as still perform-
ing the duties of that office in the year 1866. (See " Gaz-
* See "History of Dearborn and Ohio Counties, Indiana" (Chicago,
1885), pages 180 and 227.
131
etteer of Madison County," Illinois [Alton, 111., 1866],
page 225.) Having rounded out a long, eventful and use-
ful life, the writer's grandfather died, in February, 1876, at
the residence of his son, Henry Guest M'Pike.
___ Samuel Merriil, Esq. (1792-1855).*
Samuel Merrill was born in Peacham, Vt., Oct. 29 179-.
died in Indianapolis, August 24, 1855. The circumstances
of his early life were favorable - good parents, books in
the house; a stony, sterile farm cultivated by the father and
his six sons; an industrious, frugal, intelligent community
an excellent school; an able minister, whose long life was
spent in the one parish; news once a week from the great
world, then on fire with Napoleon's brilliant career- Dart
mouth college; school teaching and the study of 'law in
York, Pa., with his oldest brother, Thaddeus Stevens and
John Blanchard, all natives of Peacham, pupils in the same
school and students in the same college. Not the least
favorable was the friendship of these young men, continu-
ing, as it did, through life.
Coming to Indiana when he was twenty-three Mr
Merrill, after some inquiry as to the prospects of the' river
towns bought a skiff at New Albany and rowed himself
with his trunk, in which, beside his clothes, was a small
stock of law-books, to Vevay, where he began the practice
*This sketch was written by Miss Katharine Merrill, at the reau-.t of
her s,s.er Mrs. J. M. Moores, Indianapolis. Miss Merril has been ife
long teacher, and her for.er pupils are a.on, the best citizens of Indian
132
of his profession. The next year he married Lydia Jane
Anderson, daughter of Robert Anderson and Catharine
Dumont.
Mr. Merrill represented Switzerland county two years
in the State Legislature. While canvassing for his elec-
tion he walked over the whole county, visiting every
house.
He removed to Corydon in 1821, having been made
State Treasurer.
The salaries of that day were small; so were lawyers'
fees. " tor ten years of his professional life, Mr. Merrill
did nothing more than pave the way for future operations.
If he had used spirits or tobacco it is not unlikely that the
small sums required for these indulgences would have in-
terfered with his ultimate success."
When the seat of government was transferred to Indian-
apolis, the treasurer, with the treasury, removed to the
new capital, making the journey in eleven days of October,
1824.
After twelve years, while still holding the office of Treas-
urer, Mr. Merrill was elected president of the State Bank,
an office which required great financial ability, close cler-
ical work, and much travel. Once a year, never once
omitting the duty, he gave every bank in the State care-
ful, personal, private examination, turning out for the pur-
pose all the officials and locking himself in with accounts
and ledgers. He usually made his Indiana journeys on
horseback, often through roads that were indescribably
bad, so bad that more than once a horse was sacrificed,
though Mr. Merrill was remarkably humane to animals as
133
to every living thing. When he went in the stage it is
said that his good humor, his fund of anecdote, the flow of
thought, playful or serious, furnished by his richly stored
mind, shortened to his fellow-passengers the hours of
dreary dragging through swampy woods. Once he
walked all night, carrying a lantern, nineteen miles before
the coach, reaching home at daybreak, mud from head to
foot, but apparently more diverted than annoyed. His
journeys east and south, if not so laborious, were more
anxious. Returning at one time from New York with a
number of boxes of coin, he chartered the coach, and with
pistols was prepared to defend his charge in passes of the
Alleghenies that then were infested by robbers. He was
never molested, however, and suffered nothing worse than
a broken leg as a consequence of being hurled from the top
of the stage by an upset occasioned by run-away horses.
While he was president of the State Bank, although but
three other State banks in the Union were able to preserve
their integrity, Indiana paper was always worth its face —
everywhere it was as good as gold, and no defalcation or
any kind of dishonesty occurred in anv of the branch banks.
In 1843 he was defeated in the election, and, in the
period of leisure which followed, he compiled the Indiana
Gazetteer, a third edition of ten thousand copies of which
was published in 1850.
A year later he was chosen president of the Madison &
Indianapolis Railroad. He filled the office four years.
In iSqo he bought out a bookstore and made it, in addi-
tion, a publishing house.
Mr. Merrill was a kind father and a devoted husband. He
134
was a good citizen taking an active part in all efforts for
the public good. He was an active though modest worker
in the church. He was honest in all his dealings, truth-
ful in all his words. One who knew him well said: " He
maintained in sublime combination the sternest ideas of
justice with the most beautiful simplicity and childlike
sweetness of manners."
Colonel Samuel Merrill, M. A.
Samuel Merrill was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, May
30, 183 1. He attended the Marion County Seminary for
seven years. For the benefit of his health, when fourteen
years of age, he spent a half year on the plantation of his
mother's brother. Dr. William Anderson, in Louisana, and,
two years later, the same length of time in Peacham, Ver-
mont, on the farm of his father's brother, Hazen Merrill.
He entered the sophomore class in Wabash College; con-
tended successfully for the first prizes in declamation and
essay writing; was graduated in 1851, and took the
degree of Master of Arts in 1854. He engaged in the
publishing and book-selling business in Indianapolis;
visited Europe in 1855, and was married, in 1859, to
Emily F. White, daughter of Rev. Charles White, D. D.,
President of Wabash College.
On July 14, 1862, he was commissioned second lieuten-
ant by Governor O. P. Morton and served until the war
closed, as captain, major and lieutenant-colonel of the
70th Indiana Volunteers, Infantry, commanding that regi-
135
ment on Sherman's march to the sea. The war ended, he
returned to Indianapolis and continued in his former busi-
ness until March 3, 1890, when he was appointed by Presi-
dent Benjamin Harrison, Consul-General to Calcutta. After
his return, in 1894, he made his home on the slopes of the
Sierra Madre range, twelve miles north of Los Angeles,
California, with that city and the Pacific ocean in full view,
where he is now (March, 1898) engaged in lemon and
orange culture.
He was elder of the Fourth Presbyterian Church, In-
dianapolis, and superintendent of its Sunday-school twenty
years, and is now elder of the LaCrescenta (California)
Presbyterian Church and superintendent of its Sunday-
school. His parents were Samuel Merrill, Esq., and
Lydia Jane Anderson-Merrill, the latter being a grand-
daughter of Peter Dumont.*
Judg-e Isaac Naylop.
Isaac Naylor was born in Rockingham county, Virginia,
in 1790. When about thirty-six years of age he married
Mary Catherine Anderson, a daughter of Captain Robert
Anderson and his wife, Catherine Dumont-Anderson. As
judge he traveled the circuit and held court until he had
reached his seventy-ninth year. He died in Crawfords-
ville, Indiana, in 1873. Was a resident of the town for
fifty years, a soldier of 181 1, 1812, 1813 and 1814, a hero
* See page 60.
Note. — For descendants of Judge Isaac Naylor, 'see 'page 64.
136
of Tippecanoe, a pioneer of Indiana, and as long one of the
judges as any man who ever lived or died in that State.
His courage, integrity and high character will long make
his name of blessed memory, not only among his own de-
scendants but all who are thoughtful enough to realize
that much of our present prosperity and happiness is but
a natural sequence to the indefatigable labors of those
who have preceded us.
A Family of Presbytepian Ministers.*
" We have the pleasure of presenting on our title-page
the faces of a father and his two sons, all of whom are min-
isters in the Presbyterian Church, able and cultured, faith-
ful and successful.
Andrew J. Reynolds was born in Cincinnati, July 14,
1 831; graduated at Woodward College, Cincinnati, in
1851, and at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1855;
licensed by Cincinnati Presbytery, June 6, 1855; ordained
and installed by the same presbytery pastor of Pleasant
Run Presbyterian Church, May 20, 1856; was married to
Miss Charity P. Hunter December 16, 1857, by Dr. Joseph
G. Monfort. He has served the churches of Pleasant Run,
Cumminsville, Lithopolis and Eaton, O., and Decatur and
Albion. Ind. During the war he served as Christian Com-
missioner in the Army of the United States in 1863-64.
*From The Herald and Presbyter, Cincinnati, February 20, 1895. The
Editor hereof has to express his regret that it is impossible to reproduce
the three portraits which accompanied the original publication."!
137
For many years he has been a writer for the religious jour-
nals, among them the Herald and Presbyter. He has
been a member of the General Assembly in 1862, 1867,
1880 and 1886. He is now living in Norwood, Cincinnati,
and is the stated supply of Pleasant Run Presbyterian
Church.
Clarence Guest Reynolds was born at Pleasant Run, O.,
April 18, 1859; graduated from Wooster University in
1881, and from Princeton Seminary in 1884; was ordained
by the Presbytery of Wooster, June 20, 1884; was pastor
in Winnebago City, Minn., 1884-89, and of Goodrich
Avenue Church, St. Paul, Minn., since 1889. He is editor
of the St. Paul Presbytery News, and writes for various
religious papers. He was a member of the Portland Gen-
eral Assembly, and in his presbytery and synod is recog-
nized as a minister of excellent ability and of sterling
character.
Walter H. Reynolds was born in Cincinnati, November
7, 1864: graduated from Wooster University in 1886, and
from McCormick Seminary in 1889; was licensed by
Wooster Presbytery, May i, 1889. His first preaching
was at Brookline, and Fiftv-second and Atlantic streets,
Chicago, and at Windom, Minn. He was called to the
pastorate of the River Forest Church, and was ordained
and installed by the Presbytery of Chicago, June 5, 1890,
The Rev. Clarence Guest Reynolds became Pastor of the First Presby-
terian Church, in Joliet. Illinois, in September. 1895. while the Rev.
Walter H. Reynolds assumed the duties of Assistant Pastor of the Third
Presbyterian Church, Chicasro (the lareest congregation of that denomina-
tion in that cityl. May i. i8g6.
138
and is still there in the midst of a useful and highly appre-
ciated pastorate.
A fourth picture might have been added to the group,
that of Rev. John C. Sharpe, of Pittsburg, whose wife is a
daughter of Rev. A. J. Reynolds."
APPENDICES AND ADDENDA.
1. Dr. Edmund Halley's Will.*
In the Bodleian Library at Oxford, England, are de-
posited many valuable manuscripts relating to the life of
Dr. Halley. A letter of inquiry to that institution from
the writer hereof was referred to Mr. George Parker, of
Oxford, who. on a recent visit to London, went to Som-
erset House and made a copy of Dr. Halley's will, which
is reproduced below verbatim — the words within brack-
ets being comments by Mr. Parker:
" Will of Edmund Halley,
dated 1736.
" In the Name of God, I Edmond Halley Doctor of
Laws and Astronomer in the royal Observatory in Green-
wich [so in the Register] park being in good health of
Body as well as of perfect and sound mind and memory
considering the certainty of Death and uncertainty of the
time of it in order when it shall happen to leave behind me
my flfamily in peace Do therefore make and Declare this
*It will be observed that the will was proved in the year 1871, although
the date of Dr. Halle5''s decease is, in almost all accounts, given as 1742.
This apparent discrepancy is. doubtless, due to the difference between the
old style and new style calendar. The son, Edmund, Jr., Crown Surgeon,
was probably the maternal grandfather of Captain James McPike.
[139]
140
my last Will and Testament in manner and form following:
Imprimis: I recommend my Soul to the Mercy of Al-
mighty God, And as to my Body my Will and Desire is
that it may be Interred in the same Grave with that of my
Dear Wife lately deceased in the Church yard of Lee in
Kent. Next since my Son Edmond is in actual possession
of the best part of the Real Estate of the fTamily and may
Inherit the rest after my Decease the whole being of
greater Value than the personall Estate I have to leave
my two Daughters Margaret Halley and Katherine now
wife to Mr. Henry Price And besides he being retained in
the Service of the Crown as a Surgeon seems to be suffi-
ciently provided for My desire is that he may therewith be
Contented and accept of Twenty pounds for mourning.
As for my personal Estate consisting in the remainder of
a Lease of a House in Cannon St.. London, now in the
occupation of Mrs. Mary Camm or her Assigns, as like-
wise in Goods ready Money plate Books &c. I give them
to my said two Daughters Margaret and Katherine to be
equally divided between them hoping that the Division
may be made amicably. Lastly I hereby constitute and
appoint my said Two Daughters joint Executrices of this
my last Will and Testament which is written with my own
Hand.
Edmond Halley."
" Signed Sealed and
Declared this Eighteenth Day
of June 1736. In the
presence of James Bradley
Ellener Simpson.
141
" This Will was proved at London on the Ninth Day of
February in the year of our Lord One thousand seven
hundred and forty-one Before the Worshipfull Robert
Chapman Doctor of Laws Surrogate of the Right Wor-
shipfull John Bettesworth also Doctor of Laws Master
Keeper or Commissary of the Prerogative Court of Can-
terbury lawfully constituted By the Oaths of Margaret
Halley Spinster and Katherine the Wife of Henry Price)
the Daughters of the said deceased and Executrixes
named in the said Will To whom Administration was
granted of all and Singular the Goods Chattels and Credits
of the said deceased they being first sworn duly to Admin-
ister the same. Ex d.
" [True copy from No. 53 of Trenley's register in the
Probate Court, Somerset House, London.] "
Dr. Edmund Halley had a " Coat Armorial " — author-
ities given below: " Halley (London). Az. a chev. betw.
three annulets or, over all on a fesse of the last as many
martlets gu." (' The General Armory ' &c., by Sir Ber-
nard Burke, C. B., LL. D., London, 1878.)
" Halley — a boar's head, erased and erect, between two
ostrich feathers, ppr." Plate 60, crest 7, Fairbairn's
Crests of the Families of Great Britain, &c., Vol. H.
2 Supplementary information relative to the McPike
family is given in a letter dated at Elvins, Missouri, April
13, 1898, from the editor's second cousin, Mr. George T.
McPike, of Fredericktown, Missouri, who is the only liv-
ing, immediate issue of Richard McPike. The substance
142
of his letter follows: His grandfather, Capt. James Mc-
Pike, was, he understands, a recruiting officer, during some
part of the Revolutionary War, stationed at the city of
Baltimore, Maryland. Capt. James participated in several
{seven, if his grandson's memory is correct) engagements
and was wounded in one hand at the storming of Stony
Point, under General Wayne. His marriage in the Moun-
tain family is also confirmed. Richard McPike is men-
tioned as being two years older than his brother John, who
was the editor's grandfather, and yet Richard is said to
have been born about 1798 and to have died in 1873, at
about the age of seventy-six years. He married Marie
LaRue, at Cincinnati, Ohio, date unknown. When the
War of 1812 was declared he belonged to a military com-
pany, artillery, in Cincinnati, serving during that contest
probably under General Brown. Of Richard's thirteen
children, four, John, Richard, Zebulon and Mary, died in
early childhood, and those who lived to maturity were:
James, served in the Mexican War " under Col. Hays,
Worth's Division; was at the storming of Monterey; "
also under the Union General Killian in the late war.
Had eight children, of whom two were boys; one of
latter now living at Doe Run, Missouri.
Alexander (P. W. A) of whom and of whose descend-
ants we have previously given a brief account, took
an active part in raising and equipping a regiment in
Missouri and " received the appointment of Regi-
mental Commissary." Spent in this service (so he
told his brother George) about $1,000 " for which he
never asked or received any compensation."
143
George, was born December 13, 1832, and married
Esther Gertrude MoUineaux. They have two daugh-
ters, the elder aged 15, the younger 8 years. The
father, Mr. George T. McPike, has not participated in
the wars, having had the misfortune to carry a crip-
pled right arm from early childhood. He, neverthe-
less, has had some exciting experiences with both
Indians and rebels.
Adaline E., died as widow of Anthony Thomasson.
Louise v., died as widow of John Wilkinson, Perry
county. Mo.
Maria A., died as wife of William Allen.
Amanda M., died as wife of WiUiam Morse.
Cecelia, died single.
CaroHne V., had married Owen Webb.
Supplementary letter from Mr. George T. McPike,
Elvins, Mo., May 7th, 1898, contains the following: " 1
have no recollection of any tradition concerning ' Ban-
nockburn ' or relationship with the royal Bruce — but
have always been under the impression that the Haley or
Halley family were an eminent one, also that our family
far back were connected with the Royal Stuarts, but
whether that was my paternal or maternal ancestry I can-
not say." (This, nevertheless, supports previous state-
ments as to relationship with Robert the Bruce, for the
reason that the latter's daughter married a " Stuart " and
their son was King Robert U, of Scotland, the founder of
the House of Stuart.)
Mr. G. T. McPike adds further, that he recently re-
ceived the old record of births and deaths in the family of
144
his father, Richard, in whose handwriting it is. Richard
McPike was born December 6th, 1791, and was, therefore,
at the time of his death, in 1873, about eighty-four (?)
years and three months of age. His marriage to Maria
LaRue, at Cincinnati, Ohio, occurred October 5th, 181 5.
The ■' Records of the Revolutionary War," by W. T. R.
Safifell (New York, 1858), page 202, shows that one Rob-
ert McPike enHsted Feb. 5th, 1776, as a private in Captain
James Taylor's Company, of Col. Wayne 's Pennsylvania
Battalion.
Mr. Benjamin O. Dicken, at Seventy-Six P. O., Perry
county, Missouri, who is a son of Mrs. Martha McPike
Dicken, possesses considerable information regarding the
family, but, as this volume is now going to press, it is too
late to obtain and make use of additional items, but the
editor will hope to contribute a supplementary sketch to
some Genealogical Magazine published in New York City,
or elsewhere, clearing up doubtful points.
3 The capture of Governor Livingston, of New Jersey,
may not have been among the chief objects of Simcoe's
incursion, but there was, at the time, much reason to be-
lieve that the commander of the Queen's Rangers had
hoped to achieve it. Among Captain Moses Guest's
poems is to be found the following verse:
" His object was New Jersey's favorite son,
The great, the patriotic Livingston;
Howe and his minions wished to lay him low,
To stop the gall which from his pen did flow:
But yet fair freedom's son in safely stands,
Whilst Britain's Champion now is in our hands;
And in this great, this daring enterprise.
Brave Simcoe quickly fell a sacrifice."
145
As Captain Moses Gtiest's " Poems and Journal " is now
a rare book, in either the first or second edition, the editor
has thought it advisable to give below a list of those
known to possess a copy thereof:
Chas. D. Deshler, Esq., Postmaster, New Brunswick,
New Jersey.
Mr. A. V. D. R. Hoagland, Assessor, Keokuk, Iowa.
Hon. Henry G. M'Pike, Alton, Illinois.
Mrs. M. J. Morerod, Vevay, Switzerland county,
Indiana.
Rev. Andrew J. Reynolds, Smith avenue, Norwood,
Cincinnati, O.
Rev. Walter H. Reynolds, No. 105 Ashland Blvd., Chi-
cago, 111.
And the Editor.
4 Some of the descendants of Dumonts who fled
to Holland and remained in that country, changed, trans-
lated the surname into " Van den Berg." See " History
of the French Protestant Refugees," by Charles Weiss:
translated by Frederick Hardman (Edinburgh and Lon-
don, 1854), page 469. Also " Historj' of the Huguenots,"
by Weisse, Vol. II, page 148.
The manner of writing the surname " du Mont " is,
doubtless, a Dutch innovation. It so appears in the
records of the Reformed Dutch Church, New York, in
the N. Y. Gen. and Biog. Record, Vol. XXVIII, pp. 103-
143, and also in the records of Kingston, N. Y., 1664, at
the time of the marriage of Wallerand^ dvi Mont. The
name, according to the French custom, is written " Du-
10
146
mont " and that form, therefore, should be considered cor-
rect. This surname may, of course, primarily, have been
developed from a phrase, " du mont," meaning " of the
mountain," signifying that the early progenitors of the
family lived on or near the mountains. This, however,
may have been the designation of many families not re-
lated to each other, and the mutual possession of the sur-
name does not of itself conclusively prove relationship
between any two persons.
In the records given in the appendix to the " History of
Kingston, N. Y." (New York, 1888), referred to in the
beginning of this article, the name " Dumont " or " Du-
mond " is of frequent occurrence, and is spelled both ways,
almost indiscriminately.
The fact that there are towns named " Dumont " in
Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota and
Texas (both in King and Harris counties), as well as a
" Dumontville " in Ohio, indicates that the family, in its
later generations, has scattered over a wide section of
country. ~ '
The writer's father, who is a grandson of Lydia Dumont-
Guest {Peter*, Hendrick^), clearly remembers a family tra-
dition reciting that the Huguenot ancestors of Peter*
(Hendrick^) lived in the city of Paris, and made their es-
cape by a ruse — having a banquet and grand illumination
during which they fled, having previously made arrange-
ments therefor with shipmaster — leaving all their prop-
erty behind. This seems to relate to both the paternal
and maternal ancestry of the said Peter*. The Dumont
family, as shown in page 44, probably resided in
147
Paris, but the Traverier, or Traverrier, family seems to
have lived in or near the city of Bordeaux. The tradition
as to manner of escape has been related to the writer by
several other descendants of Peter* Dumont, some adding
that the table was set with the " family plate " etc. — the
servants in the midst of their duties, and the family went
out for a drive. It is also said that when they reached
America they were almost penniless, and as " the grand-
mother "* possessed a recipe for making perfumery that
was resorted to for temporary support. These latter
items appear to relate to the Traverier or Rezeau family.
Mrs. Mary Catherine Anderson-Naylor, granddaughter
of Peter* Dumont, wrote out for a nephew an account of
the escape which contains the following additional state-
ment: "They were put in hogsheads which had holes
bored in them. There they staid until out of reach of the
inspectors. They were with the freight." The writer
hereof does not understand that this tradition relates to
the Dumont family, but rather to the Traverrier or Rezeau
family.
In an " Historical Atlas of Indiana," published by
Baskin, Forster & Co., Chicago, about 1876, it is said
(page 324) that the first couple married in Switzerland
county, Indiana, after its organization, was Richard Du-
mont and Matilda Phillips. The license was issued by
John Francis Defour, in September, 1814. A son of this
couple, John J. Dumont, lived in Indianapolis up to the
time of his decease which occurred a few years ago. Rich-
* It is probable that "the grandmother" was Mary Rezeau-Traverrier,
the maternal grandmother of Peter-* Dumont.
148
ard Dumont was popularly known as " Dick," and (so the
writer has been informed) always claimed relationship with
the descendants of Peter* Dumont, in Vevay, Indiana, and
vicinity.
The " History of Somerset County," N. J., by Dr. Abra-
ham Messier, contains many references to folio wing-
surnames: Dumont, Frelinghuysen, Staats, Van Vegten
or Van Veghten and Veghte. On page 6 of the appendix,
in list of Common Pleas Judges, appears: " 1795, '96, '97,
'98, '99, Peter Dumont." This was probably Peter* Du-
mont {Peter^), as Peter* Dumont was, as is shown, living
in Saratoga county, New York, in 1796. Peter* Dumont,
it will be further noticed, did not die until Nov. 21, 1808.
The same work, on pages 1-2 of appendix, presents an
unique copy of interesting resolutions adopted at a meet-
ing in Hillsborough Township, showing the manner of
enrolling the militia in Somerset county. John Baptist
Dumont was chairman and Peter D. Vroom, clerk.
J. B. Dumont, Esq., of Plainfield, N. J., who is doubtless
the most competent authority on the Dumont family,
states that the fact that some of the children of Peter*
Dumont (Hendrick^) having been baptized by Dominie
Van Harlingen (whose full name was Johannes Martinus
Van Harlingen) indicates that the said Peter* Dumont
was connected with either the Dutch Church at Harlingen
or Mechanic, then called " Church of Sourland." The
hills near there are still called " Sourland Mountains."
Peter* Dumont's wife's father, Cornelius Lowe, as well as
Albert Low, it appears, were also connected with Har-
lingen church. If Peter* Dumont (Hcndrick^) resided on
149
Raritan river (where Saxton Wycoff afterwards lived) they
had a long way, considering the condition of the roads
then, to go to church, while the Dutch churches at North
Branch or Raritan were much nearer. However, the in-
fluence of the wife may have been suiificient.
As to Peter* Dumont (Hendrick^) having been sheriff of
Somerset county, N. J., Mr. J. B.'' Dumont thinks it prob-
able that the Peter Dumont mentioned in the records as
holding that office was another Peter. Peter* {Hendrick^)
was then little more than thirty years of age and might
have been considered young for such an oflfice. The
writer would add that the family tradition merely recites
that " He was High Sheriff of the county in which he
lived." As he subsequently removed to New Brunswick,
this may refer to Middlesex county, N. J., although the
writer has been informed that the histor\' of the latter
county does not show the name of Peter Dumont. It may
even refer to Saratoga county, N. Y., for while he is said
to have been blind for twenty-five years preceding his de-
cease in 1 82 1, -this would give until about the year 1796
as the probable limit of his physical ability to hold such an
oflfice as high sheriff. It is. perhaps, probable that the
Peter Dumont, Sheriff of Somerset county, N. J-. was
Peter^ Dumont (Pcter^. Wallcrand^'). born 1725. He re-
sided in Eridgewater township where county seat, Somer-
ville, is located, and was Freeholder from that township,
and his name appears at different times in a public way
and in view of the fact that other public records there men-
tion middle letters for all the " Peter's " except this one,
he being the senior Peter, it is concluded that he was proh-
15°
ably the sheriff, although Mr. J. B.'^ Dumont reports that
he possesses some fragments of papers left by his own an-
cestor, Peter A.* Dumont (Abraham^), indicating that he
held some public office and had charge of settlement of
several estates, showing that he was a man much trusted
in the community. Mr. J. B.'^ Dumont further reports
the interesting discovery among the records he has, that
Peter* Dumont (Hendrick^) was officially designated as
" Peter H. Dumont " in an appointment by Congress, as
one of the committee for Hillsborough township, Somer-
set county, N. J. (with Peter A.* Dumont and others), to
"act in behalf of the country when necessary" (1777).
This, doubtless, accounts for family tradition that Gen.
Washington often consulted him, Peter* Dumont (Hen-
drick^). Peter H. Dumont was also assessor for Hills-
borough township in 1777 and 1778. Had he been sheriflf.
i774-'77, he would have been recorded as Peter H. Du-
mont. These middle initials were used merely to distin-
guish between the several " Peter's " living contempora-
neously, and were derived, no doubt, from the first initial
of the father's given name.
As regards the Captain Peter Dumont, of Second Bat-
talion, Somerset, it would seem that he was either Peter
H.* Dumont (Hendrick^) or Peter A.* Dumont (Abra-
ham^). The First Battalion. Somerset county, was com-
posed of residents north of the Raritan river, and Second
Battalion of those south of said river. There were then
living six " Peter's " of sufficient age to perform military
service.
151
North of river:
Peter^ (Peter^), born 1725.
Peter P.* (Peter^, Peter^), born 1753.
Peter J.* (John^, Peter^), born 1734.
South of river:
Peter A.* {Abraham^), born 1734-
Peter H.* (HendricP), born 1744.
Peter J. B.* (John Baptist^) born 1760.
The latter, Peter J. B.*, was in battle of Long Island,
and taken prisoner. After release, his father having died,
he performed no further military duty (this based on infor-
mation given by his grandson, Dumont Frelinghuysen,
Esq., noAv living, to Mr. J. B.'^ Dumont). So that if the
records of Second Battalion are correct in that those com-
posing same were from south of Raritan river, it would, as
stated, seem that either Peter H.* or Peter A.* was the
Catain Peter Dumont. The former is said to have been
" A soldier of the Revolution " and could hardly have been
a private in Captain Ten Eyck's Company, Fi?'st Battalion
(composed of residents north of river). On the other
hand, statement was made to Mr. J. B.''' Dumont, and to
his father before the former's birth, by his grandfather,
Peter P.', that his father, Peter A.*, was at the battle of
Monmouth, and for many years an officer's uniform and
sword hung in the garret of the old homestead which be-
longed to him. While tradition does not say that he,
Peter A.*, was an officer, this evidence might be con-
sidered conclusive by some.
After the greater portion of the genealogical contents
of this volume had been prepared for the press, the editor
152
received a letter, dated March 7th 1898, from Mrs. E. S. L.
Thompson, of Muncie, Indiana, from which the following
interesting and valuable extracts are given verbatim:
" My mother, now dead, was the granddaughter of
Peter Dumont, the daughter of John Dumont and (Julia
L. Corey) Dumont. She was in the possession of some
family history of which she often spoke to me. She had
in her possession an old account-book — now partially de-
stroyed by the mice having eaten it. It was the accoun*-
of Peter Dumont as Commissary of the Continental Army.
On several occasions I heard my mother state that after
serving some time as Captain of a Battalion in the field —
General Washington, on account of Peter Dumont's edu-
cation and business ability, called him to the charge of the
stores at Van Ness' Mills. My mother had pasted in this
book three letters from Washington. These the mice
have destroyed in the last year. One, I think, I can quote
word for word, though I cannot name the date:
Headquarters Continental Army.
My Dear Dumont:
I am asking for more men with which to whip the
British, while you are clamoring for more food for men and
horses. When the sun rises over Van Ness's Mills tomor-
row morning supplies will be on their way. A Friend
Quaker has contributed a goodly sum to our cause. I
send you a hostage (a pair of spectacles taken from a dead
British officer yesterday). If you do not send them back
I will take it that the corn &c, reached you on time.
Yours for the cause,
George Washington."
153
" My mother had the glasses, they are in my possession
now. As to this letter, I heard my grandfather, John
Dumont, state that he had been offered large sums for it
— but refused.
My mother guarded these papers very carefully, but
after her death my youngest sister, who had charge of
them, died suddenly; my father's house was remodeled
soon after and the trunk containing these was accidentally
placed in the garret. Some servant, presumably, moved
the " Commissary's Report," sticking it back under the,
eaves. There my sister, Marietta Dumont Lamb, found
it a short time ago. Many of the pages are gone, yet
enough remain to show what service Peter Dumont was
rendering at that time. " By Order of His Excellency
General Washington," heads several of the pages. I re-
member my grandfather, John Dumont, well. He spoke
and read French, teaching me to speak it when a child.
He was a man of great learning: fine oratorical powers and
strict integrity of character. He was a wit and a most
delightful conversationalist even in his old age. His
brother, Abram Dumont, father of Mrs. Jane Moroed,
was a fine man. General Ebenezer Dumont, his son, and
my mother's brother, stood high as an army officer. " The
bravest man I ever saw," say men who fought under him in
the army. He ranked high as a lawyer: as a citizen he was
one of the foremost in Indianapolis, where he long resided.
My mother spoke of her grandfather as a French Hugue-
not whose estates were taken by the then reigning king
because he, Peter Dumont, was of Protestant faith. La-
154
fayette was a friend of the family; at least I have heard it
so stated.
The mother of Rev. John Dumont Reid, my aunt Julia
L. Dumont-Reid, had a number of letters written by La-
fayette to Peter Dumont.
She was the wife of a minister, and I am told these
letters were misplaced before her death. She was an in-
valid for several years, and when my mother asked for
them they could not be found."
Immediately subsequent to the receipt of the above
communication from Mrs. Thompson, the editor addressed
letters of inquiry to the Rev. A. S. Reid, Fulton, Rock
county, Wis., and his son, the Rev. John Dumont Reid,
Greenfield, Mass., but failed to elicit any information upon
the particular points mentioned. The latter possessed
the (detached) family bible record of which a copy appears
on page 58, but cannot find it now.
In response to a later inquiry from the editor regarding
Peter Dumont, as high sheriff, Mrs. Thompson wrote that
she had no knowledge on that subject, further than that
among the few remaining very old people in Vevay, Indi-
ana, it is said that Peter Dumont knew a great deal about
law and legal methods, and his son, Colonel John Dumont,
stated frequently that his father was a man of legal knowl-
edge and acumen not to be despised.
" The Genealogy of the Dimond or Dimon Family, of
Fairfield, Conn." by Edwin R. Dimond, of San Francisco.
California (Albany, N. Y., 1891), pages 156 and 158. refers
to some members of the Dumont family. Possibly, all
are of one origin. As regards the different spellings of the
155
surname, it may be added that where the French-Hugue-
nots went, first, to England, for instance, and afterwards
(or in a later generation) came to America, the names
underwent several changes; for example, " Beauchamp "
became " Fairfield," and other as radical translations.
" We have said that Peter Dumont was living on the
Raritan in the beginning of 1699. He was a large land-
holder on the south side of the Raritan. and the ancestor
of those who have since borne that honorable name. He
was born April i8th, 1679, ^"d was the son of Walran
Dumont and Gertie, his wife. He married, first, Fametis
Van Middlesworth, who died December 2Sth, 1706; sec-
ond, Catelyntie Rappleyea, who died January 30th, 1799,
and thirdly, Janetie Veghte. Her son, John, born April
13th, 1719, was the father of Peter B. Dumont, of our
times. The Dumont family are of French extraction.
Isaac Dumont, of Bostanquet, held a Fief by Knight';
service in the beautifu) Pays de Caux, in Normandy. A
branch emigrated to Holland in the days of persecution.
They were early of Protestant principles; and Isaac Du-
mont served in the army of William when he came to Eng-
land, as others of the name had done before him in armies
of the Prince of Orange." (Hist, of Somerset County,
N. J., by Abraham Messier. D. D., pages 60-61.)
" For a short time, during the Revolution, Queen's Col-
lege was located at the John Protest Dumont house, near
the junction of the branches, in 1779." (Ibid., page 139.)
The " Official Register of the Officers and Men of New
Jersey in the Revolutionary War." compiled, by order of
the Legislature, by Wm. S. StrA^ker, Adjutant-General of
156
the State of New Jersey, and published at Trenton, 1872,
contains the following:
Pages 580-581 — Among members of Captain Jacob
Ten Eyck's Company, First BattaHon, Somerset, were:
Albert Dumont.
Elbert Dumont.
John Dumont.
John B. Dumont.
Peter Dumont.
(The name " Dumon " also appears, possibly of same
family, the difference in spelling being accounted for, per-
haps, by the French pronunciation of the name " Du-
mont " being more nearly represented by the elimination
of the final letter " t.")*
Peter J. B. Dumont appears as in Captain Vroom's
Company, Second Battalion, Somerset.
Page 389 — Peter Dumont, Captain, Second Battalion,
Somerset.
Page 362 — Peter D. Vroom, Captain, Second Bat •
talion, Somerset; First Major, ditto, June 6th, 1777; Lieu-
tenant-Colonel, ditto, September 9th, 1777.
In a book entitled " Ofif-hand Portraits of Prominent
New Yorkers," by Stephen Fiske (New York, 1884), will
be found a sketch of Mr. Theodore S. Dumont (pages
102-107), wherein mention is made of the novel, entitled,
" The Story of Marie Dumont." by Lady Pollock.
*Mr. J. B.' Dumont adds that it is safe to assume that all names in Adj.-
Gen. Stryker's Official Register, whether Dumon, Dumond, Demon or
Dumont are one and same family ; that, in fact, he has records of name
spelled in all these ways for one and the same individual.
157
(" Copy of a copy of Henry Dumont's will," furnished
by Mr. Eugene R. Detraz, of Vevay, Indiana. See
page 52.)
In the name of God, Amen: I Henry Dumont of the
city of New York, merchant, being week in body, but
through the goodness of God, of sound mind, and perfect
mind and memory and knowing it is appointed for all men
to die, do make and ordain this my last will and testament.
And first of all I give my sole to god who gave it, not
doubting his graceous receiving it, through the merits of
the lord Jesus Christ. Item: I give my body to be de-
cently baried in the earth, not doubting its resurection
from thence at the last day. The manner of my burial I
leave to the discreation of my executors hereafter named.
And as to my worldly estate I order that all my just debts
be paid. Item: My will is all my land left me by my father
lying in the county of Somerset in the province of New
Jersey, be rented out untill my eldest son Peter become to
the age of twenty-one years, then to sell said land and
equally divide the money arising therefrom among my
three children, Peter, Mary and John. Item: I will and
bequeath unto my said son Peter my house and lot called
the Lottery House at Piscataway Landing. Item: I give
and bequeathe unto my said daughter Mary my house and
lot at the Waterside at Piscataway Landing. Item: I give
and bequeath to my said son John my house and lot in the
city of New York being in Duco street, Montgomery
ward. Item: My will is my said son Peter shall in three
years after he comes of age pay out of the legacies given
158
him unto my daughter Mary one hundred pounds New
York currency, and as to my movable estate all to be sold
by my executors, and all my debts collected, except house-
hold furniture, and the money arising therefrom after pay-
ing all my debts, I give as follows viz. I give and bequeath
to my loving wife, Catherine and the child she is now preg-
nant with eight hundred pounds, that is, four hundred
pounds each New York currency. The residue of my
moveable estate with the yearly rents of the aforesaid
lands, lots and buildings, and interest thereof to be used
for the education of all my children, and if the inter-
est be not sufficient for a suitable supply for that
purpose to take so much of the principal as may
be thought needful by my executors, and what may
remain when all my children become of age, one half
I give and bequeath to the child my wife is now preg-
nant with, and the other half to be equally divided be-
tween my said wife and said three children, and if any of
my children should die before coming to age and without
laweful issue any such child or children so dying, that share
or shares shall be equally divided among the surviving chil-
dren, and my will is each child shall have his share when
arrives at age, as a dividend may then be, my son at the
age of twenty-one years, my daughter at the age of
twenty years. Item: I give and bequeath to my said wife,
Catherine the aforesaid household furniture, my will is and
I hereby order if any of my said three children die before
become of age and without lawful issue, that the real estate
here bequeathed shall be sold by my said executors and be
equally divided among the surviving ones, and lastly I ap-
159
point and ordain my loving brother, Peter Dumont and
my loving friend John Alstine, Eronimus Alstine and John
Oothout my executors of this my last will and testament,
and I do hereby revoke all former wills allowing and rata-
fying this to be my last will and testament in witness
whereof I have hereunto set my hand seal this fifth day of
November, Anno Domine one thousand seven hundred
and sixty.
Henry Dumont.
Signed, sealed, published and declared in the presence of
us, Jovis Brinckenhofif, John Pothout [Oothout?], Joseph
Foreman.
In a book relating to New York marriage licenses, pre-
vious to 1784, published by order of the Secretary of State,
Albany, i860, there appears, on page 119, a list of " Du-
monds " and " Dumonts," among which is one " Mary
Dumond " who married Henry Staats, Nov. 15, 1770 —
the authority being given as " Marriage Bonds, Vol. XVI,
page 257." This Mary Dumond may have been an own
sister of Peter Dumont, and may explain a previously
given family tradition regarding marriage with a " Staats."
In fact, the editor has just received advice from J. B.
Dumont, Esq., Plainfield, N. J., to the effect that in
reviewing some of his papers, he finds a copy of the record
made by the late Senator F. T. Frelinghuysen's mother,
based on information given her, verbally, by her father,
Peter B. Dumont. This record contains the following
item: " Hendrick Dumont left children, Peter, John, Mary.
Peter and family moved west. Mary married a Staats at
Albany." See pages 51 and 52.
" American Ancestry," Vol. VI (Albany, N. Y., 1891),
page 12, gives lineage of one Cornelius J. Dumond, of
New York City.
Peter Dumont (son of Wallerand, the first of that sur-
name in America) married, ist, Femmetje Teunise Van
Middleswart, daughter of Jan Teunissen and Cataline,
daughter of Teunis Gysbertse Bogaert.
Jan Teunissen was baptised April 12, 1654, and was son
of Teunis Nyssen, common ancestor of the Denyse, Nyssen
and Teunissen families.
Teunis Nyssen emigrated, in 1638, from Binninck, or
Bunnik, in the province of Utrecht ; resided first on Man-
hattan Island, afterwards Brooklyn. He married Phebe
Felix, of England, known as Fammetje Jans, widow of
Hendrick the Boor, and daughter of Jan Scales, of New
Amsterdam.
Jan Teunissen was the first elder of the First Dutch
Church of Raritan, installed September 19, 1699, and was
member of 2nd and 6th Colonial Assembly of New Jersey
(1704 and 1710). He served in above mentioned as Jan
Teunissin (Teunissen descendants now named Tunison),
and added Van Middleswart about 171 5.
Brothers of Jan Teunissen married into Polhemus,
Bogaert and Simonsen families, and sisters in Bergen,
Woertman, Rapalie and Snediker families, all of Brooklyn.
Peter Dumont married, 2nd. Cataline or Catalyntje,
daughter of Jeronimus Jorise Rapalie and Anna, daughter
of Teunis Nyssen (and a sister of Jan Teunissen). No male
heirs by this marriage. (See Dumont family genealogy, in
body of this book.)
i6i
Peter Dumont married, 3rd, Jannetje, daughter of Hen-
drich Claessen Vechten (or Vechte) and Gerrtje Ryniers
Wizzelhenniiig. He emigrated with his father, Claes
Arentse Vechten, in 1660, from Norg, in the province of
Drenthe.
Two brothers of Peter Dumont's third wife, Rynear and
Hendrick Vechte, settled in Somerset comity, New Jersey,
from whom are descended those of the name of Veghte.
List of descendants of Peter Dumont (Wallerand') by
his first wife, Femmetje Teunise Van Middleswart :
1 John, the eldest son, married Annatje (probably Ryer-
son), and, according to his will, had children:
i John, did not participate in division of lands left
by his father, and probably died before division.
No record of issue,
ii Peter, bap. Nov. 3rd, 1734 (Readington church
records); married May 13, 1755, Arietta
Stoothofif, and had children:
i John, bom Apr. 10, 1757, married Anathe
, having one child, Arrianthe, bap. Mch.
10, 1785 (Readington church records). No
record found of other children or descend-
ants,
ii Johannah, born June 2, 1758.
iii Arrietta, born May 25, 1759. (One of these
two daughters married Luke Voorhees and
the other a Williamson, of Grigstown, N. J.)
*Z^ ''•7^ incorporated in the " Appendices andTddenda " some supple-
mentary items pertainmcf to the Dumont familv. but are glad to be aMe to
append this additional information, regretting that it was not received in
time for inclusion in the text.
of Plainfield, N. J., for the
1 62
iv Elbert, born May 31, 1761, married Nov. i,
1780, Cornelia Hoagland.
V Peter, born July 13, 1762, man-ied Elizabeth
Swartout.
vi Abraham, born Nov. 15, 1763, died Oct. 18,
1838; married, Feb., 1788, Jane Van Cleef.
vii George, born Nov. 27, 1765.
viii William, born July 27, 1768, died 1769.
ix WilHam, born July 17, 1770, died 1790.
X Isaac, born Aug. 2, 1773, died 1798.
(No record of descendants of last four.)
iii Dirck (John, Peter, Wallerand); baptised May
23, 1736 (Readington records). Married
Rachel , date unknown. In will of this
said Dirck, dated Sept. 18, 1776, recorded,
Trenton, N. J., Jan. 29, 1779, children named
are:
i John, probably married Elizabeth Smalley, and
had one son, John Hardenberk, bap. Oct. 21,
1792 (Readington records).
ii Jane, married James Littell, of Green Brook,
and had two sons and two daughters,
iii Femmetje (Phebe), bap. Nov. 11, 1766 (ist
Dutch church, Raritan), married Peter Van-
derbeck.
iv Sara, bap. July 4, 1772 (ist Dutch church,
Raritan).
V PhilHp, bap. July 16, 1775 (Readington
records). Married Ann Calshet, and had
one son, Dirck, bap. Jan. 22, 1797 (Reading-
ton records).
i63
vi Margaret.
(One of above daughters married a " Still-
well." No other records found of Dirck's
descendants.)
iv Abraham (John, Peter, Wallerand), bap. May 13,
1739 (ist Dutch church, Raritan). Married
Neltje or Nauche . Left no children.
(A portion of land received under his father's
will was bequeathed to Dr. Peter Dumont,
son of his brother, Peter. This Abraham
was 1st Lieut, in Capt. Jacob Ten Eyck's
Co., 1st Battalion, Somerset Co., N. J.)
V Femmetje, married a Garretson. Some of the
lands of Abraham, above named, were be-
queathed to John Garretson, son of his (Abra-
ham's) sister, Femmetje.
Elbert Dumont (Peter, John, Peter, Wallerand) —
name spelled both Albert and Elbert in church records —
married Cornelia Hoagland, and had children:
i Adreiana, bap. Sept. 28, 1783, married a " Ber-
rian."
ii Maria, bap. Apr. 17, 1785, married a " King."
iii John, bap. Nov. 19, 1787.
iv Andrejon, bap. Jan. 13, 1790.
(Authority for these four dates is Readington
records.)
V John, bap. Apr. 28, 1792 (ist Dutch church, Rari-
tan).
vi William, bap. July 17, 1795 (ist Dutch church,
Raritan).
164
vii Stoothoff .
(A partial record of Elbert's descendants ob-
tained, but not sufficiently complete to pre-
sent here.)
Peter (Peter, John, Peter, Wallerand), married Eliza-
beth Swartout, moved to New York City, and was known
as Dr. Peter. Had children:
i Abraham Henry, born Apr. 17, 1800, married
Oct. 26, 1826, Julia Ann McKnight, and had
children :
i Elizabeth Swartout, bom Feb. 11, 1831.
ii John Ludlow, born May 9, 1832, and is now
(1898) in business in New York City,
ii William, married Georgiana De Peyster; no
issue.
iii Robert, married Swords, and had children:
i William, now (1898) in business, N. Y. City,
ii Robert, died,
iii Theodore, died,
iv Mary, died.
V Henrietta, now living (1898), married Chas. A.
Robbins.
(Dr. Peter Dumont had other children, Peter,
Elbert, Ann and Catharine; all died without
issue.)
Abraham (Peter, John, Peter, Wallerand), who married
Jane Van Cleef, had children:
i Margaret, born Aug. 21, 1791.
ii Adriannah, born Aug. 21, 1791 (twins).
i65
iii Johannah, born Apr. 12, 1794, married John
Little,
iv Isaac Van Cleef, born June 21, 1797, married Oct.
23, 1828, Maria, daughter of Jacob Van Dorn,
of Millstone, N. J., and had four sons and four
daughters. His son, Abraham, resides on a
portion of the lands purchased by John
(Peter, Wallerand) from Chas. Dunstar, Aug.,
1725.
V Peter, bap. Jan. 25, 1802.
(No additional record has been made of
descendants of Abraham, above men-
tioned.)
Descendants of Abraham Dumont, second son of Peter
(Wallerand), by the said Peter's first wife, Femmetje
Teunise Van Middleswart :
Abraham, born Apr. 2=;, 1706. married Mattie Bergen,
Aug. 10, 1733, and died Aug. 7, 1787. Had children:
i Peter A., born July it, 1734, died June 7, 1818.
ii Sitee, bom April 2, 1738, married Hendrick
Probasco, of Millstone, N. J., who was Cap-
tain 2nd Battalion, Somerset Co., N. J.,
Revolutionary War.
iii John, bom Jan. 10, 1740, died May 3, 17=18.
iv Phebe, born Sept. 13, 1747, married, ist, Fredk.
Ditmars, 2nd, Thomas Drew.
Peter A. Dumont feldest son of Abraham, above men-
tioned), married, ist, Abigail Tunison, Dec. 6, i7'^7, who
died Dec. 21st, 1761. Children of this marriage, Mattie
i66
and Abigail, died without issue. Married, 2nd, Sarah
Hegeman, Feb. 23, 1763, daughter of Adrian and Sarah
Hegeman. They had children:
i Sarah, born Mch. 9, 1764, married Christopher
Van Arsdale, died 1844.
ii John, born Sept. 5, 1769, died July 7, 1822.
iii Abraham, born June 16, 1778, died Nov. 9, 1858.
iv Peter, born Nov. 7, 1782, died Aug. 12, i860.
(And four other children, who died young.)
John Dumont, eldest son of Peter A., above mentioned,
married Mary Perlee, and had children:
i John, moved to Warsaw, New York; no record
of descendants,
ii Rebecca.
iii Abraham, moved to Philadelphia, and died
there. He had one son, Samuel Beekman
Dumont, who moved to Iowa; was a State
Senator, and the town of Dumont, in that
State, was named for him.
iv Peter I., died in Somerset Co., N. J., without
issue,
v Benjamin, died young.
Abraham Dumont, second surviving son of Peter A.,
married June 6, 1799, Judith Davis. They had:
i Sarah, born Apr. 5, 1800, married Nicholas
Voorhees, died Feb., 1882.
ii Jane, bom Sept. 19, 1801, died May 17, 1884.
iii Mary, born Sept. 4, 1803, married Peter Van
Arsdale, died Feb. 12, 1884.
i67
iv Judith, born Oct. 7, 1805, married John John-
son, died July 15, 1885.
V Peter A., born Sept. 29, 1809, died Aug. 14,
1885.
vi Abraham A., born Oct. 5, 181 1, died Mch. 27,
1883.
vii Phebe, bom Jan. 16, 1814; still living (1898).
viii Theodore Davis, born Aug. 20, 1816, died Sept.
27, 1879.
Peter A. Dumont, fifth child of Abraham, above men-
tioned, married Jan. 8, 1834, Magdalen Garretson,
daughter of Peter Garretson and Elizabeth Polhemus.
They had:
i Martha, born Oct. 15, 1834, married Abraham
Whitnack; still living (1898).
ii Arabella, bom Sept. 14, 1836, died Apr. 18,
1874.
iii Sarah EHzabeth, born Dec. 5, 1838, died Aug.
14, 1880.
iv Abraham P.. born Oct. 18, 1841, died .
V John Garretson, born Sept. 10, 1843; still living
(1898).
Abraham A., sixth child of Abraham, above mentioned,
and brother of Peter A., above mentioned, married
Cornelia F. Hoagland. Had children, five sons and five
daughters: several died young. He moved to Kansas,
and died there; no record of descendants.
Theodore Davis Dumont, eighth child of Abraham,
i68
previously mentioned, and, therefore, a brother of Peter
A. and Abraham A., above mentioned; married Jannet
Peck, and had one son and three daughters. All children
living (1898).
Peter Dumont, youngest son of Peter A. and Sarah
Hegeman, married Nov. 6, 1805, Magdalen Davis, daugh-
ter of Peter Davis and Jane Ten Eyck, and sister of his
brother Abraham's wife, Judith. The children of this
Peter Dumont and Magdalen, his wife, were:
i Jane, born Nov. 13, 181 1, died July 29, 1887;
married Bernard Polhemus, and had one son,
Isaac Luther, and one daughter, Magdalin,
both deceased,
ii Peter P., married May 29, 1838, Auletta Maria
Brokaw, daughter of Henry Brokaw and
Sarah Vermule. They had:
i John Brokaw, born Nov. 23, 1842, married
Feb. 26, 1867, Elizabeth Stewart Cook, and
has children: i. Marion Stewart; ii, John B.,
Jr.; iii, Morris J. fall living, 1898).
ii Henry D., born Jan, 5, 1845, married May 31.
1865, Lucy A. Gregg, and has children:
i, Chas, G. ; ii, Mabel,
iii John S. Vredenburg, bom Sept, i, 1823, died
Mch. 29, 1867, married Margret Polhemus.
Had children:
i Magdalen,
ii Phebe Jane,
ill Cornelia,
iv Peter (all living, 1898).
169
Of the children and other descendants of Peter Dumont
(son of Wallerand) by his third wife, Jannetje Vechte, we
have given a partial account in the body of this volume,
under title, "The Dumont Family; Genealogy," but the
following additional notes are of interest :
John Baptist Dumont (Peter, Wallerand), who married
Maria Van Duyne, had one son:
i Peter J. B. Dumont (afterwards known as Peter
B.), born about 1760, and died May 19, 1846.
(No record of other children.)
Peter J. B. Dumont, above mentioned, married Susan
Van Middleswart. They had:
i John B.
ii Tunis.
iii Mary, who died young.
iv Jane, married Fred. Frelinghuysen, they being
parents of the late Hon. Fred. T. Freling-
huysen and Dumont Frelinghuysen, Esq.. the
latter now (1898) living in Somerville, N. J.
V Maria, married Wm. Elm.endorf.
vi Ann. married P. D. Vroom. afterwards Governor
of New Jersey.
Note. — Peter B. Dumont inherited a portion of the land? of his grnnd-
father, Peter (son of WnllerandV inrhidinp' the homestend. nnd wts bnried
in the family plat on said lands, wheie also his father. Tohn Rnntist. and
grandfather,' Peter Dumont. were buried. A brirk wall surrounds the
burials in this plat, which includes families related to Dumonts, and being-
near the main road it seems possible it may be respected for many vears.
Peter B. was a Revolutionary soldier and served on Staten Island and
Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth, N, T-)- but his father's death, in 1776. com-
pelled him to leave the army and look after the large estate, but he fur-
nished a substitute, until the war closed.
17C
Peter Dumont, who married Bruchie Vroom, had chil-
dren:
i Jannette, born Apr. 7, 1749, died 1752.
ii Jacinte, born June 18, 1751, married Mch. 2,
1777, Robert Roseboom, and moved to Cherry
Valley, N. Y.
iii Peter, born Oct. 17, 1753, died Mch., 1807, mar-
ried Mary Roseboom, sister of Robt., above
mentioned, and moved to Cherry Valley,
N. Y.
iv Hendrick, born April 13, 1756; died Dec. 17,
1775-
V John Baptist, born Oct. 21, 1758; died Jan. 12,
1832; never married.
vi Jannette, bom May i, 1761; died Oct. 25, 1828;
married Hendrich Tenbrook Vroom.
vii Batchie, born Feb. 14, 1765; died Feb. i, 1852.
viii Margaret, born Oct. 5, 1766; died Jan. 2, 1844;
married a Tenbroock.
ix Mary, born Jan.. 1770; died Dec. 22, 1845.
Peter Dumont (son of Peter) and Mary Roseboom had:
i Henry, born Jan. 18, 1778; died Jan. 18, 1816.
ii Garret, born May 23, 1786; died Jan. 12, 1812.
iii Peter, bom April 16, 1789; died May 16, 1852.
iv Gertrude, born Sept. 16, 1780.
v Brachia, bom April 24, 1791.
Note. — No record of descendants of Hendrick, above mentioned, and
from ag-e named, he probably died without issue. John Baptist nnd his
sisters Batchie (in will called Bridget), and Mary, lived and died on lands
purchased by their grandfather, Peter, at Two-bridges, on North Branch
River, near junction with the Raritan.
171
vi Cynthia, born May lo, 1793; married Luke
French,
vii Mary, born May 10, 1795.
Peter, son of above-named Peter, and Mary Roseboom,
the latter's wife, married Sarah Baskin and settled, first, at
Watkins, N. Y., afterwards Rochester, N. Y., where nearly
all his children were born, and finally moved to Allegan,
Mich., where he died. Children were:
i Henry, bom Watkins, N. Y., June 5, 1815; mar-
ried a Bingham and moved to Berrien Springs,
Mich. His only son, Gilbert P. Dumont, died
without issue,
ii John Baptist, born at Rochester, N. Y., Aug. 3,
1820; now (1898) living in Allegan, Mich,
iii Mary, bom Nov. 26, 1822; died June 9, 1844.
iv Martha, born Sept. 22, 1825.
v Wm. P., bom May 5, 1831; still living; un-
married,
vi Robert Roseboom, born Feb. 17, 1834; died
Sept. 15, iSgo. He moved to Colorado when
a young man; was in first wagon train to Pike's
Peak; afterwards located in Denver, Col., next
to California; continued a rover for twenty
years in many lands, returning to Allegan,
Mich., in 1881 ; married and moved to Seattle,
Wash., where he died and left no issue.
(Other children mentioned, but died young.)
Note.— No record of descendants of Henry and Garret, and it is believed
they had no male heirs.
172
John Baptist Dumont (the only descendant of Peter,
son of Peter, son of Wallerand, who has a male heir) mar-
ried, 1st, Dec. 7, 1852, Frances P. Emerson, of HoUis.
N. H., who was born March 11, 1832; died March 16, 1853.
Married, 2d, Emma E. Smith, of Canaan, Conn., born
Nov. 8, 1829; died Jan. 3, 1868. Married, 3d, Susan M.
Watson, sister of second wife. The only sunavor of his
children is John Baptist, Jr., by his second wife, born Jan.
3, 1868, and is now (1898) located in Chicago, IlHnois.
MISCELLANEOUS.
One important item pertaining to the ancestry of Peter*
Dumont (Hcndrick, Peter, Wallerand) should, also, be
added: The Editor has been informed by his father, Ex-
Mayor Henry Guest M'Pike, of Alton, Illinois, that he had
been told by his father, the late Judge John M'Pike, that
it was said by (or else heard it direct from) the late Colonel
John Dumont, that he (Col. D.) personally possessed the
ancient French deeds to ancestral estates in France, which
had been confiscated by the government of that country
Note. — In regard to descendants of other sons of Wallerand Dumond,
the first of that surname in America ; that is. of Walran, Jr., and Tohn
Baptist, it should be added that J. B. Dumond. Esq., of Plainfield, N. J-,
has made a copy, in order of dates, of all "Duraonts," — marriages and
baptisms, from records Dutch church, Kingston, New York, to the year
iSio, and he further undertook the grouping of families, considering
names of children and sponsors, but it is exceedingly difficult to make such
a record entirely reliable and he found before reachinji the vear 1700 that
it was not easy to distinguish the different branches. Aside from this, the
records of marriages and baptisms, towards 1700. became less frequent
(of Dumont's or Dumond's. as descendants in Kingston now write the
name); this being accounted for by scattering of descendants to other parts,
and. also, connections with other than Dutch church. Mr. Dumont, how-
ever, has offered to transmit to the editor a copy of the above list, and for
the benefit of those most interested, we will state that the list may be pub-
lished in a subsequent genealogy of the Dumont family, or, more likely,
contributed to the columns of (he New York Genenlogical and Biographical
Record.
173
from his (Col. D.'s) ancestors because of their having been
Huguenots. As Col. D. was a lawyer of high standing it
was very natural that such documents should have been
placed in his care by his father. The Editor has not been
able to locate the said French deeds, but has a letter, dated
June 1 6, 1898, from Mrs. E. S. L. Thompson, of Muncie,
Ind. (a granddaughter of Col. D.), stating such deeds did
exist, and were kept in her grandfather's office in Vevay,
Ind. They have, no doubt, been destroyed by accident or
otherwise. Mrs. Thompson adds that, perhaps, Wm. L.
Campbell, Esq., Marysville, California, may know more
about them, but as this volume is now going to press we
have not sufficient time to investigate further. These
deeds, no doubt, covered property belonging to maternal
ancestors of Peter* Dumont.
Mr. C. C. Saffell, No. 205 Courtland street, Baltimore,
Maryland, advises the editor that he has the record of one
James Pike, who was, " no doubt," Captain James Mc-
Pike, previously referred to.
In conclusion we cannot omit to refer to the fact that
among Dumont family descendants in military service
during the present Spanish-American war are two grand-
sons of the late General Ebenezer Dumont — David C.
Braden, aged 21 years, who is Sergt. -Major, 3rd Battalion,
158th Indiana Regiment, and James Braden, aged 19
years, Regimental Bugler, 158th Indiana Regiment. We
must also mention Frank P. Dupray, of Vevay, Indiana,
who enlisted in Company " K," U. S. Infantry, Camp
Merritt, San Francisco, and is now en route for Manila, as
well as Frederick Dumont Grisard, who enlisted in Com-
pany " K," First U. S. Infantry, from Poughkeepsie, New
York, and is on his way to Manila.
INDEX TO SURNAMES,
In alphabetical order by initial letters only, and
including only pages 9-158, inclusive, the subsequent
pages having been added after index was prepared.
The surnames shown on the subsequent pages have,
however, been incorporated in this index, and are
indicated by the letter ' S.'
Adams, 23-26, 27, 35.
Aertson, 46.
Alford, III.
Allen, 143.
Alstine, 52, 158, 159.
Anderson, 60, 64, 66, 103,
132, 134, 136.
Arnand, 77,^ 74, 75, 77.
Arnold, 108.
Armstrong, 63.
Arthur, 54.
Barber, 16, 19.
Brewster, 30, 32.
Bruce, 34, 121, 143.
Blackburn, 35, 108.
Bartel, 38.
Burke, 42, 141.
Beslevoer, 46.
Bergen, 48, 'S.'
Brouwer, 49.
Bush, 57.
Basye, 63.
Brier, 64, 65.
Bainbridge, 64.
Blake, 66.
Burdick, 66.
Bradley, 140.
Braden, 71, 'S.'
Berrier, 77,, 74.
Bouyot)
Bonyot}75. 7&-
Brun, 76.
Bogart, 79.
Bland, 104-107.
Blunt, (?) 105.
Blackford, 1 13.
Barbour, 113.
Beecher, 114.
Brown, 114, 142.
Burr, 115.
Baker, 119.
Browne, 1 19.
Bushnell, 128.
Bushnell, 128.
Blanchard, 131.
176
Bettesworth, 141.
Baskin, 147, ' S.'
Beauchamp, 155
Brinckerhoff, 159.
Bogeart, ' S.'
Berrian, ' S.'
Brokaw, 'S.'
Bingham, ' S.'
Clinton, 12. 18.
Clute, 19, 47.
Cromwell, 31.
Coleman, 35.
Caldwell, 37.
Cooper, 49.
Coffinger, 61.
Corey, 61, 81, 82, 152.
Campbell, 61, 62, 'S.'
Clarke, 62.
Catlin, 66.
Carre, 75, 76.
Chaigneau, ']'].
Childs, 81.
Cummings, 107.
Chase, 109.
Coffin, 113.
Camm, 140.
Chapman, 141.
Calshet, 'S.'
Cook, ' S.'
Deshler, 11, 20, 21, 26,
145-
Dumont, 14, 40-104,110,
118, 121, T32, 135, 145-
159. 'S.'
DeMot, 16.
Dunham, 2c.
Dahl, II.
Dicken, 36, 144.
Dryden, 38.
Denton, 40.
DeLaTrimble, 44.
Detraz, 52, 56,62, 72, 73,
75. 76, 11^ 157-
Domiin, 52.
Dupray, 63, ' S.'
Drew, 72.
Dumas, 75.
Drommeau, 76.
Dunsmore, 105.
de Blount (?), 105.
Dunn, T20, 129.
Defour, 147.
Dumon, ) ^ , c >
Dumond,i'54' ^56, S.
Denyse, ' S.'
De Peyster, ' S.'
Dunstar, 'S.'
Ditmars, ' S.'
Davis, ' S.'
Everts, 18.
Ellis, 35, 36, 108, 109.
Etmendorf, ) . e ,
Elmendorf, \ 54' ^•
Eddy, 82.
Eggleston, 88.
Emerson, ' S.'
Flamsteed, 9, 32.
Franklin, 27.
177
Fry, 33-
Frame, 35.
Fronnie, 2iT-
Fox, 39.
Foreman, 40, 159.
Frelinghuysen, 54, 78,
148, 251, 'S.'
Filleul, 76.
Ficklin, 109.
Fifer, 127.
Francis, 127.
Fairbairn, 141.
Forster, 147.
Fairfield, 155.
Fiske, 156.
Felix, ' S;
Guest, 11-19,20-29, 36-38,
40-43, 55, 60, no, 121,
129, 144, 145.
Grinup, 35.
Greene, 52, 62.
Grisard, 63, 'S.'
Gano, 64.
Garrett, 65.
Grant, 67, 125.
Gordon, 119.
Goodwin, 120.
Garretson' ' S.'
Gregg, ' S.'
Halley, 9, 29-33, 139- Ho,
141, 143.
Howe, 16, 19.
Hamilton, 27.
145-
Hardman, 2S
Howard, 34.
Hereford, 35, 108.
Hanie, 37.
Hunter, 42, 136.
Hoes, 44.
Hendricks, 46.
Hunt, 53.
Hay, 57, 64.
Hardenburg, 59.
Haerlengen, 59.
Henderson, 62.
Humphrey, 65.
Holman, 120.
Harrison, 135.
Hays, 142.
Hoagland, 145, 'S
Hegeman, ' S.'
Irving, 10.
Jenkinson, 35.
Journeay, 46.
Jackson, 104, 106.
Jans, 'S.'
Johnson, ' S.'
Kip, 46.
Kinkead, 109.
Ketcham, in.
Killian, 142.
King, ' S.'
Lossing, 10.
Lee, 12, 13, 19.
[78
Livingston, 14, 15, 144.
Lafayette, 19, 26, 34, 129.
Laurens, 27-29.
Little, 34, 'S;
Lindsey, 35-37.
LrRu\|35..4..44.
Long, 38, 59.
Lemmon, 42.
Leveredge, 47.
Loveridge, 47.
Leverich, 47.
LeGrange, 48.
Low, 56, 148.
Lowe, 56, 57, 58, 81, 148.
Laing, 59.
Lincoln, 62, 71, 106, 119,
124.
Lamb, 62, 1 15-120, 153.
Lanman, 80, 103.
Logan, 126.
Looker, 129.
Little, 'S.'
Luther, ' S.'
Mariner, ) ,„ ,0
Marrener, ) '
McPike, )i8, 19, 33-41.
M'Pike, (42. 107, 121-
131, 139, 141-145. 'S.'
Messier, 9, 45, 55, 59, 79,
148, 155-
Mesnagar, 24-26.
Murray, 26.
Macauley, 31.
Mairan, 32.
McDonald, 33.
Mackenzie, 33.
Mountain, 34, 35, 142.
Morehouse, 36.
Maier, 39.
McNorton, 40.
McNaughton, 40.
Monteath, 41, no.
Moores, 53, 57, 58, 61,
65. I3I-
Munsell, 53.
Morerod, 56, 58, 63, 145,
153-
Merrill, 60, 66, 113, 131-
135-
Murphey, 61.
Many (?), 75, 76.
Morrison, 96, 99.
Morgan, loi.
Madison, 106.
Meiers, 108.
Meigs, 106.
Mitchell, 113.
Mills, 121-124.
Morton, 134.
Monfort, 136.
Mollineaux, 143.
Morse, 143.
McKnight, 'S.'
Newton, 9, 30-33, 125.
Neilson, 15.
Nouee, 46.
Naylor, 60, 64, 65, 135-
136, 147.
179
Nyssen, ' S.'
Olden, 23.
Oothout, 51, 52, 158-159.
Oathout, 52.
Peck, 18, 'S.'
Price, 32, 140, 141.
Pike, 34, ' s;
Penn, 40.
Pollock, 44, 156.
Paxton, 62, 63.
Parlier, n, 74. 75-
Poore, 80.
Parke, 81.
Pocahontas, 105.
Payne, 106.
Peebles, 108.
Pritchard, 120.
Parker, 139.
Phillips, 147.
Probasco, ' S.'
Perlee, ' S.'
Polhemus, 'S.'
Rose, 19.
Reynolds, 23, 40, 41, 42,
43, 60, 77,100, III, 129,
136-138, 145.
Ramsey, 29.
Ryerson, 48, 'S.'
Rapalie, 48, ' S.'
Reid, 58, 62, 63, 154.
Ralph, 67.
Reseau, )
Rezeau 73, 77, i47-
Rapalye, "]"].
Rolfe, 105.
Ray, 129.
Root, 130.
Rappleyea, 155.
Robbins, ' S.'
Roseboom, ' S.'
Silliman, 10.
Simcoe, 10-19, 27, iii,
144.
Stuart, 16, 143.
Sullivan, 16.
Stryker, 18, 40, 55, 155,
156.
Snell, 18, 19.
Stephen, 30.
Smith, 35, 52, 81, 108,
124, 'S.'
Shaw, 36.
Shelby, 36.
Sharpe, 43, 138.
Schoonmaker, 44.
Stuyvesant, 45, 46.
Staats, 52, 53, 148, ' S.'
Steel, 61.
Shipp, 61, 62.
Stites, 64.
Schorr, 65.
Stratton, 66.
Sargent, 66.
Springsteen, 72.
Shepherd, 1 16.
Stevens, 131.
Simpson, 140.
Saffell, 144, ' S.'
Scales, ' S.'
Snediker, ' S.'
Stoothoff, ' S.'
Swarthout, ' S.'
Smalley, ' S.'
Stillwell, 'S.'
Swords, 'S.'
Tarlton, 17.
Tooke, 31.
Thomason, 35, 143.
Terbosch, 47.
Teunissen, 48, ' S.'
Traverier, (50, 53, ^1--]^,
Traverrier, j 147.
Todd, 52, 62, 63.
Tucker, 109.
Talbot, III.
Taylor, 113, 130, 144.
Thompson, 120, 152, 154,
's;
Trumbull, 124.
Trenley, 141.
Ten Eyck, 151, ' S.'
Tunison, ' S.'
Tenbroock, ' S.'
Van Home, 15.
Van Vechten, 15.
Voorhees, ) 1 6- 1 8, 27, 40,
Voorheis, j^' S.'
Van Vegten, 47, 148.
Van Middleswart, ) 48,
Van Middlesworth, j 49,
54- 155. 'S.'
Vechten, 48, ' S.'
Vechte, 48, 'S.'
Veghte. 48, 79, 148, 155,
'S.'
Van Duyne, 48.
Vroom, 49, 54, 78, J 48,
156. 's;
Van Haerlengen, 58, 59,
148.
Van Bunscholten, 59.
Venable, 87, 129.
Voris, 120.
Van den Berg, 145.
Van Ness, 152.
Van Cleff, ' S.'
Vanderbeck, ' S.'
VanDorn, ' S.'
Van Arsdale, ' S.'
Vermule, ' S.'
Washington, 12, 27, 55,
59. 63. 103, 152, 153.
Whitney, 14, 72.
Weiss, ) o
Weisse,h^'^45.
Wolford, 35.
Wilkinson, 35, 39, 143.
White, 37, 41, 80, 134.
Webster, 40.
Wickam, 61.
Whiteford, 64, 65.
Watson, 72, ' S.'
Williams, 72.
Wyckoff , )
Wycoff, [79. 149-
Wallace, 82, 96.
Woollen, 1 03. Williamson, 'S.'
Wayne, 142, 144. Whitnack, ' S.'
Worth, 142. Wiley, 112.
Webb, 143. Wilson, 121, 128.
Woertman, ' S.'
Wizzelhenning, 'S.' Yates, 125, 130.